Peak season 2025: From generative AI to conversion, the innovative strategies of Galeries Lafayette, La Grande Récré, Boozt and Blissim

As October approaches, many retailers are entering the most strategic period of the year. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas…Q4 accounts for a major portion of revenue and often determines overall annual performance. For the 2025 peak season, more generative AI solutions than ever before have been mobilised to capture and convert online traffic during a period when volumes multiply.

For retailers, the importance of the peak season varies. While at Kingfisher, the fourth quarter accounts for only 22% of total activity (2024 data), this figure rises to 40% at Blissim and 48% at La Grande Récré (2024 turnover: €230 million including VAT, up by 13% on a like-for-like basis). For the toy retailer, the average basket size during this period increases from €33 to €38. Last year, sales grew by 6% in the fourth quarter and the target is to achieve the same this year. Overall for the year, 91% of business comes from stores and 9% from digital. “My current priority for the website is to use it as a showcase to drive traffic to stores”, Elisa Ouvrard, Omnichannel Marketing Director, told mind Retail. That’s where I’m focusing the bulk of investments”. For the retailer, the share of digital revenue doubled in a year, driven by an expanded range of 8,000 products and the unification of digital activities with those of Joué Club, now a parent company, in a common warehouse.

At Blissim, the goal is to increase sales by 15% in the fourth quarter, after a 12% increase last year.…