Accelerating Québec retail trade’s digital turn
For several years now, e-commerce has become increasingly prevalent in retail trade. It has gained so much popularity with consumers that it has become inescapable for retailers. La Maison Simons saw this turn coming many years ago. It dove into e-commerce in 2010, at a time when few Québec retailers had transactional sites. This entry into the digital era allowed the company to increase its client base and showcase its brand across Canada, even before it opened stores outside of Québec.
Eight years later, the Québec retailer has grown substantially, opening seven new stores in Canada. With this physical expansion and continuous and sustained online sales, it was time to expand and modernize its distribution centre to better meet demand.
“In e-commerce, we have ferocious competitors with enormous means,” says Peter Simons, President of La Maison Simons. “This is why we must continue investing in our infrastructure and in technology to stay at the cutting edge and maximize our efficiency in processing orders, which are growing rapidly. Our virtual store is now an integral part of our offering and our brand. And we plan for it to continue to be attractive, successful and competitive.”
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This is the first time since the company’s creation in 1840 that the Simons family has turned to external partners to finance its growth. And the choice of partners is not trivial, because the family wanted to work with investors who share the same values, including the desire to optimize the quality and continuity of Québec companies, and who take a long-term view. At la Caisse, the Private Equity team in the Québec City office led the transaction that involved a share capital stake in La Maison Simons. Investissement Québec, the Government of Québec and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ are the other financing partners on the project.
Supporting innovation above all
“We believe that e-commerce is the cornerstone of the long-term success of Québec retailers, and this share-capital investment in Simons is a prime example of this belief. Christian Dubé, Executive Vice-President, Québec
For la Caisse, this investment in La Maison Simons is aligned with the desire to support innovation in Québec companies. The company is already a pioneer in e-commerce in Québec. And through the innovative multiservice order processing centre that it will build, the company will remain at the forefront of its industry. Using cutting-edge technology, the new facility in Québec, which will be operational in 2020, will include sophisticated automated equipment and optimize the speed and efficiency of processing orders. Once it is fully operational, the new centre will provide Simons with greater warehousing capacity as well as the capacity to process nearly 15,000 units per hour and ship more than 40 million units per year, compared with 20 million units shipped from the current distribution centre.
The company is assessing the possibility of transforming the old distribution centre into an e-commerce accelerator. This multi-user centre would be available for Québec companies looking to go digital or further integrate e-commerce into their business model. They could benefit from the skills and services developed by La Maison Simons in the area of going digital.