Société des alcools du Québec to open 100 store-in-stores and deliver with Uber Eats
The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) could offer around 30 products in your local convenience store or grocery store over the coming months.
By summer, the Crown corporation plans to open 92 displays in urban stores, it announced late Wednesday afternoon.
The mini-agency concept, called Zone SAQ, will offer between 30 and 40 products.
The idea behind this concept is to adapt to consumer behaviour, explained Isabelle Dufour, vice-president of sales network operations, in an interview on Wednesday.
“We realized that there were small gaps in the market where customers did not necessarily go to the branch near their home,” she explained.
By having a presence in a store with longer opening hours, the SAQ would be able to “help out a customer” at a time when its stores are not open, she added.
The SAQ has been testing this model since last spring. It has conducted pilot projects in eight establishments in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, Granby, and Lévis.
In October, it announced that it was delaying the larger-scale launch to allow time for further consultation.
These discussions provided an opportunity to explain the model to stakeholders who had concerns about public health, says Dufour.
The concept had been criticized by the SAQ Store and Office Employees Union, which saw it as a form of privatization of the state-owned corporation's activities.
The union was concerned about the ability of grocery stores and convenience stores hosting SAQ Zones to ensure responsible alcohol sales with the same rigour as store employees.
Dufour insists that the SAQ will take the necessary measures to ensure that retailers sell alcohol responsibly.
They will be required to conduct tests using underage customers twice a year and report their findings to the SAQ. “We will also want to test them randomly, as we do with our stores,” warns Dufour.
The executive mentions that the establishments that will be selected through the call for tenders already have expertise in this area, since they already sell alcoholic beverages or tobacco products.
Deliveries by Uber Eats
The SAQ also announced that it had chosen Uber Eats to conduct a delivery pilot project. It plans to test this concept starting at the end of February on the island of Montreal.
Once again, the Crown corporation wants to adapt to consumer behaviour, as consumers appreciate being able to avoid travelling, explains Sandrine Bourlet, VP of marketing at the SAQ, during the same interview.
When the SAQ announced its intention to explore a partnership with a delivery platform last spring, trade tensions with the United States were at their peak.
At the time, the CEO of the Crown corporation, Jacques Farcy, mentioned that the choice of platform should be ‘compatible’ with the political context.
The SAQ ultimately decided to partner with the American platform Uber Eats for its pilot project.
The Crown corporation respected the Legault government's political decision to remove American alcohols from its shelves. In the case of the platform selection, it was a commercial decision, Bourlet clarified.
"We opened the call for proposals and the only collaborative delivery platforms that decided to apply were American platforms, or platforms based nearby," she replied.
Uber was selected because it already has experience in alcohol delivery, notably with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). Being able to comply with the SAQ's ‘sales ethics’ was a ‘sine qua non’ condition, adds Bourlet.
Not all Uber delivery drivers will be able to improvise as alcohol distributors. They will have to undergo training. The SAQ will also use mystery shopper tests to ensure that its rules are being followed.
Once the pilot project is complete, the SAQ could open the door to other platforms, provided they meet its criteria. ‘That's the goal,’ says Bourlet.
Two more closures
The SAQ has also announced the closure of two branches located in shopping centres in the metropolitan area, namely Mail Champlain in Brossard and Centre Eaton in Montreal.
The fact that these are two stores in shopping centres does not mean that the SAQ wants to leave this segment. "We have several branches located in shopping centres that are doing very well," Dufour clarified.
The two branches in question are closing because they were not the destination of choice for the majority of customers who frequented them, she explains. Other branches were also located nearby.
The SAQ does not plan to announce any other closures this year. "Last year, we made two waves of announcements,’ says the executive. ‘Our real estate strategy is usually done once a year, and we will only do it once this year."
She also plans to open 15 new agencies in various remote regions of Quebec.
The SAQ is developing new concepts as it grapples with declining alcohol consumption and changing consumer habits.
The amount of alcohol sold by the Crown corporation has declined at an annual rate of 2% to 3% over the past two fiscal years, according to its most recent annual report.
-Translated by CSNC using Deepl
