*ladurée on robson st, vancouver. photo: ladurée*

By Craig Patterson

Upscale French bakery and sweets maker Ladurée has expanded its e-commerce business in Canada by launching a dedicated transactional website. The www.ladureecanada.ca website launched earlier in the spring and has been well received by customers who have been missing Ladurée after its locations temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every Ladurée store opening attracts a line-up of customers, and now the company says that its website has been popular with the brand’s fans who are happy to have Ladurée products delivered to their door steps. This service has been introduced in a remarkably timely fashion given the current situation. “At the moment we don’t know when we will be able to make the next trip to Paris, so why not have a sweet piece of Paris be delivered to your home,” said Ladurée’s Canadian licensee Olesya Krakhmalyova

The website is seeing robust business amid a push on social media that includes upcoming celebrations such as Mother’s Day on May 10.

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Although our boutiques are closed, we now deliver to your 🏡 all across Canada 🇨🇦! Visit our website to order our macarons, chocolates, teas, and so much more! And in Vancouver, we also offer pastries and cakes! Thank You 🙏🏻🤗🙏🏻 @dailyhive @dishedvancouver @dishedtoronto for your Support during this time! . . #ladureecanada #stayhome #dishedvan #dishedto

A post shared by LADURÉE CANADA OFFICIAL (@ladureecanada) on Apr 22, 2020 at 2:17pm PDT

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Wondering where our pastries are made? Here is a special behind-the-scenes video with our executive Ladurée pastry Chef Mickaël De Monte, who creates all our exquisite croissants, cakes, biscuits and more in our Vancouver laboratory . . . #laduree #ladureecanada #frenchpastries #bestcroissant

A post shared by LADURÉE CANADA OFFICIAL (@ladureecanada) on Jan 31, 2020 at 4:09pm PST

The retailer now ships delicacies across the country and is fulfilling orders rapidly. Ladurée Canada now ships its famous macarons in a variety of flavours in the attractive gift boxes. Other products sold on the website that are shipped across Canada include Ladurée collection of chocolates, gourmet teas, jams and honeys, candles, and accessories such as Parisian theme key chains and shopping bags.

Ms. Krakhmalyova says that updates to the website were accelerated after store locations across the country began closing in March. The website is currently the only sales channel for the company until stores reopen, she said.

For those living in the Greater Vancouver area, Ladurée famous cakes and pastries are available to order online and to be delivered. The Vancouver market is served by Ladurée’s first Canadian pastry laboratory and Ladurée French Pastry Chef which opened in the summer of 2018.

For Mother’s Day, Ladurée Canada has introduced a specially design and limited collection of macaron gift boxes and has chosen the cakes suited for the holiday.

Ms. Krakhmalyova says that Ladurée Canada will continue to grow its online business, recognizing the importance of being able to sell online at this time as well as into the future as some consumers may be spending more time at home. Other retailers are also growing online transactional sites amid an acceleration of change resulting from the COVID-19 situation.

Ladurée has been expanding its physical presence in Canada over the past four years. Most recently, a 680-square-foot storefront opened at the Exchange Tower in Toronto’s Financial District in December. The retailer entered Canada in March of 2016 when it opened a 1,100-square-foot boutique and 23-seat tea salon at 1141 Robson Street in Vancouver. In December of 2018, Ladurée opened its first Toronto location at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. The 1,185-square-foot storefront features a retail area as well as a 26-seat tea salon. Claudia Ravnbo designed the Yorkdale Ladurée, which was the first in the world to reflect a new design aesthetic with an interior inspired by the colonial style of the 18th century.

In addition to the full scope locations, Ladurée Canada also has a Carriage pop up at Holt Renfrew in Vancouver, and is looking to have more of these at selected retail locations.

*LADURéE, EXCHANGE TOWER LOCATION. PHOTO: MICHAEL MURAZ*

Ladurée Canada opened a dedicated 'Pastry Laboratory' bakery space in Vancouver in the summer of 2018 to provide Ladurée’s Vancouver locations with fresh-baked pastries.

A Toronto pastry laboratory is expected to open at some point as well, according to Ms. Krakhmalyova. “Toronto is eagerly looking forward to us offering Ladurée croissants and cakes in the city”. Ladurée is also looking into opening in Montreal in 2021 according to Ms. Krakhmalyova. The plans were for 2020 but will likely have to be delayed due to the unexpected situation with COVID-19.

Founded in Paris in 1862, Ladurée is best known for its double-decker macarons, selling over 15,000 of them daily. Many Ladurée locations also sell ice cream, sorbets, jams, chocolate and candy, as well as branded accessories. Ladurée was purchased by French business group Groupe Holder in 1993, expanding Ladurée from a handful of locations to dozens of boutiques in 27 countries, including several in the United States.

Now located in Toronto, Craig is a retail analyst and consultant at the Retail Council of Canada. He's also the Director of Applied Research at the University of Alberta School of Retailing in Edmonton. He has studied the Canadian retail landscape for the past 25 years and he holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws Degrees. He is also President & CEO of Vancouver-based Retail Insider Media Ltd. Email Craig: craig@retail-insider.com

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