Google and Carrefour Roll Out Voice-Based Shopping Service In France

Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL) and French retailer Carrefour are rolling out a new voice-based e-commerce grocery shopping tool in France.

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The voice-enabled grocery shopping service developed with Google is provided via Google Assistant, a digital assistant which is available on smartphones and is compatible with smart speakers and connected screens. The new tool is part of a strategic partnership signed in June 2018, the two companies said in a joint statement.

The service seeks to simplify and personalize e-commerce grocery shopping experience while protecting the personal data of users. Customers can cancel their accounts anytime and Carrefour will no longer share their purchase history with Google, while Google will delete any transferred data. This happens automatically if the voice-based grocery shopping service is not used for 30 days.

“Carrefour is the first retailer in the world to integrate with the new voice-based grocery shopping experience on the Google Assistant,” said Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Carrefour’s Executive Director of E-Commerce, Data and Digital Transformation. “This innovation will further accelerate the trajectory of e-commerce at Carrefour.”

Carrefour has about 12,300 stores in more than 30 countries employing 320,000 workers who serve 105 million customers. The food retailer recorded €80.7 billion in revenue in 2019.

Shares in Google have surged 37% since dropping to a low in March and have now erased all of their losses suffered earlier this year. The stock rose 1.8% to $1,446.47 at the close on Tuesday.

In view of the recent rally, the stock’s upside potential is now expected to be more limited. The average analyst price target of $1,493.03 indicates shares may advance a modest 3.2% in the coming 12 months. (See Alphabet’s stock analysis on TipRanks)

Meanwhile, five-star analyst Justin Post at Merrill Lynch sees room for more upside as the global economy starts to open up and travel spending increases since Google’s search revenues are highly correlated with GDP growth. The analyst has a Buy rating on the stock with a $1,610 price target, reflecting 11% upside potential.

Overall, the Wall Street rating outlook for Google remains bullish. The Strong Buy analyst consensus boasts 32 Buys versus 2 Holds.