Albert Heijn has been delivering online groceries from a new Home Shop Center (HSC) in Amsterdam since this week. The e-fulfilment centre is by far Albert Heijn's largest HSC to date.
The supermarket chain's fifth HSC is in Amsterdam's Westelijk Havengebied and covers 20,000 square metres. Around 1,000 new employees will start work there, picking and delivering 40,000 orders weekly to customers in the Amsterdam, Haarlem and the rest of North Holland region.
Full electric delivery
The building, which houses the entire Albert Heijn range, has been completely renovated and equipped with sufficient power supply to eventually deploy only electric delivery vehicles. Albert Heijn already delivers groceries to some of its customers in Amsterdam using electric delivery cars and bicycles. The chain's ambition is to switch completely to electric transport in this area in the coming years.
Growth online
The opening of the new location in Amsterdam provides more capacity and a better spread, Albert Heijn said. This also creates room for growth in other regions. The supermarket saw online grocery sales grow sharply in recent years, partly due to the national roll-out of the delivery bundle and a lower minimum order amount on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. By 2020, the supermarket plans to open a sixth Home Shop Centre.
