Carrefour ends distribution of brochures in France

Carrefour has announced that it will cease the home delivery of unaddressed paper promotional brochures in its home market of France on 31 March. This move is part of the retailer’s accelerated digitisation strategy.

15,000 tonnes of paper per year

CEO Alexandre Bompard points out that Carrefour has been digitising all of its French brochures since 2022, making them available on the company’s website and app, as well as via email and WhatsApp. This initiative is expected to save 15,000 tonnes of paper annually, with the resulting savings being reinvested into pricing for customers, Bompard says.

Carrefour had initially planned to discontinue its brochures only by January 2026, but following successful test projects in major cities such as Paris and Lyon, the retailer has decided to implement this change earlier. Carrefour is not the first French supermarket chain to eliminate brochures ; market leader E.Leclerc made a similar move in September 2023.

In Belgium, retailers are also focusing more on personalised digital communication to reduce paper waste. For instance, Delhaize significantly reduced its brochures circulation in 2023. Lidl stopped distributing brochures altogether in cities like Antwerp, Ghent, Liège, and Namur.

Carrefour itself said it aimed to decrease its brochures distribution by 80 % in 2024. The retailer has now reported it succeeded in a 50 % decrease to 3900 tonnes of paper annually, which should become a 75 % decrease (to 1900 tonnes) by the end of next year.

(This article has been updated with new figures about Carrefour’s reduction of paper brochures in Belgium).