Hema wants to speed up delivery chain

Dutch chain Hema is to launch a new international mobile website and means to speed up the delivery chain to same-day delivery and 24h pick-up in stores.

Make things easier

With its new website, Hema wants customers to have more order convenience, like being able to pick up the order within a day at one of Hema’s stores. “Right now, this is often 7 days and we will try to do it at the same day in some cases”, CEO Tjeerd Jegen told De Telegraaf.

Bringing together online and offline is an opportunity for online shopping. “The Dutch trend is that more people buy online now, but that the total retail turnover remains the same. Even Amazon noticed that a physical retail network is beneficial”, the CEO said. Hema currently has a 4 % online market share, but its online turnover grew 28 % to 51 million euro in 2015.

Spanish growth

Hema also seeks strong foreign growth: in June, it will open its first store in Barcelona, next to the famous Ramblas. The 1,000 sqm store once belonged to fashion chain H&M and it will also house the Spanish Hema subsidiary, which has to stimulate further Spanish growth. The store will be the chain’s fourth in Spain and the very first outside of Madrid, nearly two years after its very first Spanish store.

In the next three years, the Dutch chain hopes to have reached 40 Spanish stores, with a goal of 80 in the distant future according to country manager Guillaume Lemaire. If all goes well, the retailer hopes to reach 200 stores, with its fourth store in Madrid already planned.

Hema currently has 47 French and 5 English stores, leading to more than 700 stores in 7 different countries.