French retailer Auchan has announced plans to start developing in Russia the new retail format – Auchanauto stores, similar to Auchan Drive project in France, Kommersant reports.

The first 2,000-square-meter store is scheduled to open next year in Moscow: its clients will be able to pre-order groceries via Internet and pick up purchases in the store without leaving a car.

The company is currently looking for a 2,000-square-meter land site for building the store, possibly, in the North-West of Moscow, the newspaper source said.

Auchanauto is adapted version of a project of Auchan Drive Internet-store, Auchan representative reports. Under the format, the client pre-orders products and goods on the Internet and then pick them up at a warehouse store that can be located next to a classical Auchan hypermarket or separately, as an independent retail shop. The product range is to include 6,000-10,000 names. At the products check-out, the buyer doesn’t have to exit the car, the packing person will load the pre-ordered goods into the car trunk. The store won’t have any cashier machines and the service personnel is to be made up of 30-50 people. Auchan Drive goal is to give out purchase in less than five minutes.

The first Auchan Drive opened in France in 2006. These days the cjain includes 34 stores. The company does not specify total number of such stores to be built in Russia.

Auchan Group manages 574 hypermarkets in 12 countries and 747 supermarkets in five countries. Another 1,600 Auchan stores work in Europe under franchise or in cooperation with Auchan. 87.8% shares in the group are owned by the Mulliez family, and another 11.8% shares are owned by the employees – 137,000 people out of 262,000 employees hold shares in the company.