Tested in 2019, deployed in 2020 at the start of confinement, the online sales platform Ocito.net, intended for merchants in Mercialys shopping malls, is now operational in Reunion. It integrates the offers of the boutiques of Cap Sacré Cœur and Sainte-Marie Duparc.
« Order products online from merchants at the Cap Sacré Cœur center, as well as restaurant dishes, then have it delivered to your home and office or collect your order directly in store at the time you want. » The home pages of ocito.net Cap Sacré Cœur and ocito.net Sainte-Marie Duparc begin in the same way, like all the home pages of the thirty shopping malls of the Mercialys group which offers this integrated online sales service on a national scale. With the aim of stimulating the activity of its commercial galleries, Mercialys has developed this “turnkey” service platform to support merchants in a digitalization process.. Platform for connecting merchants and customers, Ocitô thus becomes “a real business provider” for Delphine Perichon, Marketing and Communication Manager at Mercialys Réunion. But it is also a logistics solution offering the consumer several possibilities to consume in local businesses and collect their purchases., between collection of products in store, postal shipping and home delivery. This innovative form of sharing commercial service is advantageous for both the merchant and the consumer who, “while consuming online, contributes to supporting local physical businesses”.
Order online, postal shipping and delivery
How does Ocito work? ? The customer creates an account. Thanks to the platform, which corresponds to a virtual shopping gallery, he can fill his “basket” with products from several stores. Three solutions are then available to him to collect his order : the now classic click & collect (order online and collect in store), postal shipping via Colissimo in 72 hours at most and, for restaurants, home meal delivery service (a delivery person is assigned to this task in each of the two shopping malls between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.). Note that the cost of postal shipping is also shared, which allows it to be reduced to five euros regardless of the total amount of purchases (it is offered to customers from 49 euros of purchase). Payment is made online. The order is transmitted to the merchant via a touchscreen tablet provided free of charge by Ocitô. In click & collect, a text message informs the customer that their purchase is ready. In addition to the promotions for the launch of Ocitô in Reunion, a specific loyalty program – Premium' Premium' – supports online sales. The customer feeds a prize pool through their purchases : All they need to do is send a photo of their order receipt to a dedicated email address..
A unified vision of commerce
The launch of Ocitô in Reunion followed and accompanied the reopening of Reunion shopping malls. However, this project is not a response to the pandemic. It predates him. Ocito.net was tested in mainland France throughout 2019. It is, the pandemic developing, the success of this experiment which decided Mercialys to accelerate the deployment of the platform on a large scale to help merchants cope with confinement. Aimed to be perpetuated, “Ocito.net completely embodies Mercialys’ vision of unified commerce and constitutes the cornerstone of its omnichannel strategy, which aims to offer its customers all the products sold by the brands of its centers in a few clicks and in a single order, and the possibility of receiving them, indifferently, at home or to collect them in store or drive,” explained the Mercialys group in July 2020 when announcing this deployment which therefore includes, since the first half of 2021, the Cap Sacré Cœur and Sainte-Marie Duparc shopping malls. Mercialys now owns four shopping malls in Reunion Island. : Cape Sacre Coeur, Sainte-Marie Duparc, Beaulieu Saint-Benoît and Grand Large in Saint-Pierre.
Three questions to Delphine Perichon, Marketing and Communication Manager at Mercialys Réunion
Is a minimum purchase amount necessary to order online? ?
We wanted to be as flexible as possible, this is why no minimum amount is required. Ocitô is a service platform available to merchants, but also their customers. To the first, it gives greater visibility to their products, creates synergy between brands and facilitates purchasing. To the seconds, it allows access to different modes of consumption. With Ocito, we play an intermediary role between merchants and consumers. The objective is to stimulate the activity of local businesses to develop their turnover by providing them with this additional visibility., and to support them as best as possible by providing them with this “turnkey” tool free of charge.. We have shown flexibility to allow our merchants to continue their online activity during these three months of closure..
Are there any eligibility requirements for traders? ?
No eligibility conditions. Ocitô is accessible to all our merchants who retain complete autonomy in the management of their offer. We are here to advise and support them in structuring their catalog, mastery of IT tools and the organization of postal shipments and home deliveries. Once integrated into the catalog on the Ocitô website, they have the possibility to activate and deactivate a product at any time. We provide them with a tablet to receive orders and manage their information in real time. They are the ones who have the Ocitô tool in hand.
The Ocitô site is still very recent. Is it expected to evolve ?
We are in the process of putting together the offer, every week the catalogs are enriched and new merchants join us. The site is intended to be in perpetual development. Besides, from September, its interface will be more optimal in order to make the online customer journey more ergonomic and intuitive.
Oliver Soufflet
