"Technology is game changer for Ahold Delhaize"

Belgian-Dutch retail group Ahold Delhaize will have to focus more on robotics and artificial intelligence, in order to stay ahead of Amazon, CEO Frans Muller says. He therefore wants to cooperate closely with technology companies.

Save costs

“We have to dare to experiment more. I want to see more inspiration and creativity and hear ‘That is not possible’ or ‘That does not work’ less often without us having tried it. Occasionally projects will fail, but that is part of the game,” Muller explains in an interview with Dutch newspaper FD. He clearly indicates that he has a different view than his predecessor Dick Boer: in his opinion, Ahold Delhaize was too conservative. The CEO says his company should become more exciting and, above all, invest more in e-commerce and technology – especially now that competitors like Amazon or Picnic are increasing the pressure. Muller will therefore appoint a chief digital officer this year.

The CEO does not deny that e-commerce is still loss-making, but insists technology will help to save costs. “With artificial intelligence we can approach our customers even more precisely. It will also help to make our supply chain more efficient. Think of robots in the stores and in the distribution centres.” The CEO also refers to the cashless AH To Go stores, which he believes are at least equal to those of Amazon. For further steps, he looks at technology companies: “The world is too complex not to work together.” According to Muller, the collaboration with the University of Amsterdam and TU Delft has already produced several useful applications.