Next Wednesday, Picnic will officially launch. To ensure success, the online supermarket has set up a complete alternative distribution system. This is what founder Michiel Muller tells Intermediair Magazine. "People have a huge interest in online grocery shopping, but they don't want to pay delivery costs."
Picnic has been keeping tempers high for weeks, but will officially launch next Wednesday. This is based on three spearheads: no delivery costs, the same price as in the ordinary supermarket and a clear delivery time. These spearheads should make Picnic a success story. But according to Muller, the launch remains a gamble. "It can always go wrong. We are entering a very complex market."
Read also: Online supers fall foul of high delivery costs
Own distribution system
The online grocery share has been stuck at 1 to 2 per cent for ages. This is said to be mainly due to the availability of delivery services. They would be able to transport parcels, but not groceries. That is why Picnic has set up its own distribution system. The online super drives a fixed route in the neighbourhood three times a week. In fact, consumers would do grocery shopping three times a week. "Delivery on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is fine," Muller said. You have the weekly bulk of soft drinks and toilet paper delivered and for your lifesavers you run to your cheese shop."
Taking electric cars into the neighbourhood
Picnic cuts delivery costs by driving a large truck from a central point in Nijkerk to a local transfer point. From there, electric cars drive into the neighbourhood. "So not like albert.nl, where a driver drives criss-crossing the city separately for each order."
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