Dutch online supermarket Picnic is expanding rapidly in France: as its progress in Northern France is going well, the startup now aims for the big prize: Paris.
Quadrupling in 2023
Picnic delivered 317,000 orders to 50,000 customers in Northern France last year, accounting for 12 million products in total. The app was downloaded 150,000 times in the region where it started in May 2021 and where it currently serves the cities of Armentières, Douai, Lens, Lille and Valenciennes. In the Hauts-de-France region, the startup already calls itself the market leader in grocery delivery.
The low prices and free delivery are seducing more and more consumers, operational director Grégoire Borgoltz says in a press release. Picnic now serves an area of 500,000 households. “Our ambition for the end of 2023 is to quadruple that, and serve two million households.”. The online supermarket will continue to expand in the Hauts-de-France region, but will also head for a new region: Ile-de-France, the region in which the capital Paris is located.
More flexibility
Picnic is adapting its model to better meet French consumers’ expectations by introducing new products and broadening delivery slots: the retailer wants to offer customers more flexibility. Building on the experience at its new automated distribution centre in Utrecht, Picnic plans to open ‘hybrid’ distribution centres in France to increase profitability.
Until now, the Dutch app-only supermarket worked with hypermarket group Cora for purchasing and logistics in France. However, that will change from next year, as supermarket chain Système U will be the new partner. Like Picnic, that retailer is a member of the retail alliances Everest and Epic Partners.
