Jean-Claude Cazalbou, CIO at Leclerc

RETAIL TECHNOLOGY REPORT
© Lineaires.fr
CIO Interview
Jean-Claude Cazalbou,
CIO at Leclerc
Magali Dubreil
Retail Analyst
Gildas Aitamer
Retail Analyst
planetretail.net
Sarah Herrlein
Senior Retail Technology Analyst
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CIO Interview: Jean-Claude Cazalbou, Leclerc
Contents
1. Introduction
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2. Interview: Jean-Claude Cazalbou, CIO at Leclerc
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3. Panorama
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CIO Interview: Jean-Claude Cazalbou, Leclerc
Introduction
Jean-Claude Cazalbou, CIO at Leclerc
A
s Head of Leclerc’s in-house IT subsidiary Infomil, Jean-Claude Cazalbou has overall responsibility for all
technology across Leclerc, providing strategic direction and management of instore technology as well as of
enterprise solutions behind the scenes.
Leclerc is a strong advocate of in-house-developed solutions which are designed in such a way that they ideally
match the business’ structure as a co-operative retailer and which Infomil offers independently to regional cooperatives and independents. These tools, along with other cutting-edge applications, help the retailer maintain a
frontrunner position in the French price war.
Jean-Claude Cazalbou, 55 years old, is an Engineering Graduate from ENSM in Nantes (now École Centrale). He joined
Leclerc in 1982 as a Project Manager responsible for the automation of a food warehouse in Toulouse - the first of its
kind in Europe at that time.
After overseeing numerous projects at Leclerc including Le Manège à Bijoux (the retailer’s jewellery shops), banking
and the Leclerc loyalty card, Cazalbou set up Leclerc’s Infomil IT subsidiary in 1993, together with seven other
engineers who are all passionate about technology and software and all of whom still work for the company. Infomil
is headquartered in Toulouse in south-western France.
© Leclerc
In his spare time, Cazalbou enjoys the great outdoors and mountaineering far away from datacentres.
April 2014
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CIO Interview: Jean-Claude Cazalbou, Leclerc
2. Interview: Jean-Claude Cazalbou, CIO at Leclerc
Planet Retail: Mr Cazalbou, could you please give
us an overview on Leclerc’s global IT organisation?
How big it is, how it is structured and what are its
main tasks and responsibilities?
Jean-Claude Cazalbou: Infomil is an internal
Leclerc organisation with around 300 employees
and works exclusively for Leclerc. Our IT systems are
very much organised in a decentralised way, thus
reflecting the particular business structure of Leclerc.
The solutions we develop are sold to the individual
co-operatives and stores, which decide independently
in what technology they want to invest. Nobody
is forced to buy a certain solution from Infomil.
However, there is of course a certain degree of
interaction and alignment between the co-operatives.
Of course, these large IT vendors offer to adapt
their solutions to suit our organisation, but this
is not what they were initially developed for.
Undoubtedly, there are some HR or accounting
tools that do not need to be altered according
to our needs, but if we get to the heart of our
business, the situation looks different.
Due to this, we always develop a solution in-house
if we don’t find anything suitable on the market. For
instance, when we launched a loyalty programme
back in 1993, there was no suitable software package
on the market. Consequently, we had to develop our
own tool. The same was true for our Drive concept.
There was no solution on the market for managing a
Drive when we needed it seven years ago.
In which areas do you prefer in-house developments
over deploying standard packages and why?
For us, retail is not ‘standard’. A standard solution
in the world of retail does not exist. We frequently
meet large IT vendors, but each time we see them,
we have difficulties understanding each other.
Very often, they offer us basic solutions designed
for integrated retail structures. However, this has
nothing to do with our business, which is based on
independent store owners.
Leclerc Company Structure
Leclerc is an amalgamation of independent
grocery retailers (affiliates/members) operating
hypermarkets and supermarkets under the
Centre Leclerc name and who own the majority
interest in Leclerc. Members are allowed to
operate a maximum of two outlets and must
abide by conditions regarding price positioning,
profit margins and employee profit-sharing. The
right to run a Leclerc store cannot be passed to
another party. Should a member wish to sell a
store, the group retains the first option on any
purchase. Store employees have a 25% stake
in the proceeds of their operation while store
owners are levied 0.007% of their turnover for
head office services.
Due to its special structure, decision-making is
a very complex process. All decisions covering
the whole Mouvement Leclerc are made at
group headquarters in Paris. From there,
national promotional campaigns are organised
and guidelines on pricing and product range
policies decided. The Comité Stratégique has
responsibility for important group decisions
and comprises Group President Michel-Édouard
Leclerc along with 16 regional Presidents, who
work in seven strategy committees.
Besides the main division in Paris, the group
operates 16 regional divisions across France.
The divisions are organised as co-operatives
of Leclerc members under the leadership of
an elected President. They undertake 25% of
regional buying and meet on a monthly basis.
Leclerc hypermarket in Rueil-Malmaison, France.
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April 2014