With Emakina, André is rapidly taking its first step towards a unified retail environment

The French retail brand André is an iconic name in the market, respected since 1896 for its excellent shoe collections for the whole family. The company has lived through several storms, maintaining a steady course through the ‘gilet jaunes’ yellow waistcoat protests, public transport strikes at the end of 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic.

In August 2020, the company started a new chapter, under the leadership of François Feijoo. In a particularly difficult year for retail, the new management immediately decided to accelerate the company's digital transformation. Its aim was clear: transform towards unified commerce and significantly boost its business.

One month later, Audrey Leblanc, Digital Communication and Marketing Director at André, launched an agency pitch, selecting Emakina for its recognised experience in digital business.

Six months later, André's new e-commerce site is online in full glory: www.andre.fr. The brand was able to manage the migration of its IT ecosystem without any difficulty or service interruption, and the new platform is already recording great results.

This project illustrates the transformation potential of retail players. It demonstrates that even a historic and established as André brand can successfully carry out its digital transformation, despite the complex context of a global pandemic.

Now that André's digital ecosystem is launched, the company more than ever wants to continue its acceleration on multiple tracks together with Emakina and tackle new challenges with its team.

"When we started this digital transformation project in September 2020, we knew time was against us and we faced a very short expected time-to-market. Six months later, we are delighted to have taken up the challenge and were able to count on Emakina, a pragmatic business partner committed to the success of this venture," comments Audrey Leblanc, Digital Communication and Marketing Director at André.

"We are proud to support a brand as iconic as André, that demonstrates determination and agility to meet the challenges of our time. Our respective teams worked together in a spirit of pragmatism and co-design to deliver top results, developing this fully operational e-commerce site in just six months," said Romain Dehaudt, Director of Strategic and Commercial Development at Emakina.FR.