Printemps department stores are also succumbing to crypto-currencies. This new means of payment, already experimented with by big names in the industry such as Gucci and Ralph Lauren, now applies to its twenty French outlets.
Owned by the Qatari fund Divine Investments SA (DISA) since 2013, Printemps department stores are opening up to crypto-currency payment. The scheme applies to the twenty outlets spread across France, from Paris to Marseille and Deauville.
To this end, Printemps has signed a partnership with global digital wallet exchange and management platform Binance and French fintech specialist in digital currency payments Lyzi.
The announcement comes just as Printemps department stores are looking to strengthen their expansion outside France. And their outpost in Doha (Qatar) will soon no longer be the only one outside France. A new outlet, initially scheduled for the second quarter of 2024, is due to open in New York in the spring of 2025. This new address will be the first Printemps outlet on the other side of the Atlantic.
Greater shopping convenience
CouldWeb3 and cryptocurrencies be the new customer experience enhancers for good?
For Printemps department stores, the answer seems to be yes, as the opening up to digital currencies offers greater flexibility and security in its customers’ means of payment.
The twenty French department stores in the Printemps network now accept well-known cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as certain stablecoins such as EURI and USDC.
In concrete terms, once at the checkout, customers wishing to make a transaction using their digital currencies scan a QR code. From the Binance Pay solution, they then select the currency of their choice before confirming the transaction. These purchases are then paid back in euros to protect the department store from the volatility of crypto-currency prices.
The measure not onlyenhances the customer’s experience, but also establishes the luxury retailer as a leading player in retail tech innovation.
And on the crypto-blockchain front, while some of the big names in luxury goods such as Gucci, TAG Heuer, Ralph Lauren and Balenciaga have taken the plunge, only a handful of retailers have tried their hand at it. Such is the case of luxury e-tailer Farfetch – now in dire straits – and the Beaugrenelle shopping center (Paris XVe). After a conclusive test, the manager of the latter, the Apsys group, has extended it to other shopping centers in its retail park.
A response to the Web3 wave
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Photo à la Une : © Printemps
