Supermarket group Ahold Delhaize experienced strong growth again last quarter thanks to the corona crisis. Online sales are thriving: the retailer is announcing investments to significantly increase its e-commerce capacity.
Delivery services successful
Sales at Ahold Delhaize increased by 6.8% to 17.8 billion euro. Comparable growth was 12.4% in the U.S. and 7.5% in Europe. This growth is mainly explained by changing purchasing behavior as a result of the corona crisis: people cook more often at home. However, the same crisis is also causing higher costs for the retailer. As a result, the underlying operating margin increased by only 0.2% to 4.6%. In Europe this margin decreased by 0.5% to 4.3%.
Particularly noteworthy is the strong growth online: sales increased by 62.6%, in the US even by 114.7%, in Europe by 48.6%. Already this year, the group will reach its target of 7 billion euro in online sales, one year ahead of schedule. At bol.com, sales increased by 45.6%. The platform already has 37,000 partners on board, which saw their sales grow by 73%. The retailer is therefore announcing investments to increase online capacity by 100% in the US and 50% in Europe.
Albert Heijn‘s new delivery service in the Antwerp region has got off to a promising start, reports the retailer, and the free delivery service for smaller families recently launched in Haarlem will also expand to additional markets. Bol.com expanded into the French-speaking part of the country in Belgium and already managed to attract thousands of Belgian partners. Across Europe, Ahold Delhaize is also rolling out the installation of electronic shelf labels: by the end of this year they will be installed in nearly all Albert Heijn and Delhaize stores.
