How AI‑Powered ‘Fast‑Pick’ Warehouses Boost Carrefour’s Delivery Speed

Carrefour’s online mini‑program orders are now delivered up to ten minutes faster, thanks to Suning’s newly launched “fast‑pick warehouse” system.

Positioned as a “community life service centre”, Carrefour has become a key part of Suning’s full‑scene retail, accelerating its “closer, faster, smarter” home‑delivery services with options such as 3 km/1‑hour, 10 km/half‑day and up to three deliveries per day.

By the end of April 2020 Suning had built fast‑pick warehouses in nearly 200 Carrefour stores, cutting picking time by about 50 % and markedly improving fulfillment capacity.

The system leverages Suning’s big‑data models to select thousands of high‑frequency SKUs, optimise picking information, customise routes, enable intelligent replenishment and allocate tasks, effectively giving pickers an AI “secretary”.

Pickers view product details and images on their phones, receive personalised routes that minimise walking, and the system predicts replenishment needs, issuing alerts when stock falls below safety thresholds.

At Carrefour’s Shanghai Zhongshan Park store, more than 1,000 orders are processed daily, with over 95 % delivered within one hour.

Data shows the home‑delivery service grew 398 % year‑on‑year, while the mini‑program, 1‑hour delivery and same‑city delivery features saw order increases of 356 %, 288 % and 225 % respectively.

Suning’s OMO (online‑merge‑offline) upgrade integrates supply‑chain, logistics and digital membership, creating a 1 + 1 > 2 effect that boosts Carrefour’s operational efficiency.