Ordering your groceries and having them delivered to your home; it's nothing new under the sun for SPAR. 85 years ago, the shop's entrepreneurs already went door-to-door with an order book for everyday convenience. Since 2013, SPAR has also offered its products online. Entrepreneurs deliver online orders - as before - directly from their shops. What is the thinking behind this? And how does SPAR plan to compete online with players such as Picnic and Albert Heijn? An interview with Sarah Bouwmeister, e-commerce manager at SPAR.
During the Webwinkel Vakdagen will give you an insight into SPAR's online strategy. The title of the lecture is 'SPAR 85 years online'. How do you arrive at those 85 years?
'What we mean by that is that we have been delivering for 85 years and it's actually nothing new for us. Back then, our entrepreneurs went door-to-door with an order book. Now we have a webshop, but we still see it as the same service we used to offer. Say someone comes into the shop who has picked up more groceries than expected. Then the entrepreneur delivers the groceries at home. That's also the approach of the webshop: offering service.'
You deliver online orders directly from the shop. Why not deliver from a central distribution centre?
'We see SPAR as a shop for the neighbourhood. Entrepreneurs know our regular customers and the retailer knows what's going on in a neighbourhood. We want to maintain this mindset online as well. Personalisation is a popular theme: offerings based on data. SPAR is also working on that, but what we also do is reverse personalisation. That is: the customer knows who comes to the door. For example, the regular delivery driver enters care homes and brings the groceries to the fridge. That goes beyond delivery from a central distribution centre. Meanwhile, our model does not fall short of the service level of our competitors; we serve customers who order before 10am on the same day.'
Are these trusted delivery drivers the entrepreneurs themselves? And is it feasible for them to handle the fulfilment and last mile themselves?
'There are shops where the entrepreneur does it himself. But there are also shops that work with seniors, for example, who would like to stay at work. A shop is free to do that.'
Is every SPAR shop connected to the webshop?
'That has been the formula's starting point since last year. There are some shops where we are still looking at how we are going to set up the logistics. An also our university and express shops are not connected. The aim is that by 2020, all our shops will also sell online. We believe by connecting online and offline and visa versa you can best service the customer.'
At SPAR city shops, delivery by van might be a bit more difficult. That is where we envisage a partnership with a bicycle courier. We have also developed cargo bikes to deliver larger groceries with.'
What is the average online revenue share of your entrepreneurs?
'We don't disclose that, but actually we are not that concerned with it. Whether the customer buys online or offline, we don't care. You can see that in our retention: we send customers a birthday e-mail that they can redeem online, but they can also pick up the gift in the shop. We want to be present 360 degrees - on all relevant channels.'
What does SPAR's online future look like? And how does it compare to competitors like Picnic and Albert Heijn?
'SPAR's online strategy actually goes beyond groceries alone. For example, by also offering our offline services online. The ultimate goal is: people don't need to leave their home or hometown because they can still order everything they need at SPAR. For example, we want to offer our dry cleaning service online in the future. Having a party? Then you can order your groceries from SPAR online and then have your party clothes steamed and your shoes repaired.
Furthermore, this quarter we will start selling sandwiches and convenience boxes online. These are, for example, drinks boxes or holiday boxes. Not on a subscription basis, like at HelloFresh. We also want to give entrepreneurs the freedom to do so.
Another aspect is the community mindset. You can imagine that our shops are located a lot in villages with relatively many older people. There, ageing is a major issue. In what way can we connect these people? The shop has traditionally been a place to seek each other out, but we also see opportunities online. We did a 360-degree campaign at Christmas with sending Christmas cards, whether an actual card with texts like: 'Do you fancy a cup of coffee?' or 'Can I do some shopping for you sometime?' or via social media. That was very well received.'
Want to know more about SPAR's online strategy? On Thursday 25 January, Sarah Bouwmeister will give the session 'SPAR 85 years online' during Webwinkel Vakdagen. You can register for the Webwinkel Vakdagen event here.
