Online sales are increasingly popular, something that is also the case at Delhaize. The company delivers more orders at home and that is why it will expand the delivery hours for its “home delivery service”. The supermarket chain will open several smaller redistribution centers or hubs to facilitate this.
Home delivery is popular
Delhaize wants to start its home deliveries earlier (7h) and continue until later in the evening (21h), from Monday until Saturday. The supermarket chain wants to meet the increased demand for delivery period flexibility: people who work during the day could barely use the service or not even at all.
The company currently has two options for online orders: customers can come and pick it up at a local store or get it delivered at home. Even though the majority still goes to a store (60 %), home delivery is picking up speed. Forty percent already wants Delhaize to deliver the products at home.
Small ‘hubs’ for local deliveries
In order to make the expanded hours manageable logistically, Delhaize will open smaller, local distribution centers or ‘hubs’: from here, smaller delivery trucks will drive the orders to the customers’ door step early in the morning. “Effective and sustainable”, according to Delhaize. The first hub will open in Drogenbos (near Brussels) on 16 April and employ thirty people.
It will quickly follow this opening with other hubs across other regions in Belgium. Carrefour has a third party delivery service between 17 and 22h (excluding Saturday). Colruyt has no home delivery service now, but announced last month it is investigating its options.
