To keep up with the growth in the number of orders, Picnic will open a new distribution centre next year. The founders state this to the Financieele Dagblad. The online super is growing with a turnover of around 15 million euro from its current distribution centre in Nijkerk.
From Nijkerk, more than ten trucks leave daily for transhipment points (hubs) in various cities. From these transhipment points, electric trolleys then drive into the neighbourhoods to deliver groceries to customers. Picnic founder Michiel Muller thought the distribution centre in Nijkerk would suffice in terms of capacity for at least three years. Nevertheless, a year after its establishment, the online supermarket feels compelled to build an extra floor on the DC.
Read also: This is how Picnic wants to conquer the online grocery market
Adding cities at a rapid pace
But it won't stop at that extra floor. There should also be an additional distribution centre next year. "The new distribution centre should provide significant expansion. We then want to add cities at a faster pace," Muller told the newspaper. The Picnic founder left open which cities those would be. The grocery delivery service currently operates in Amersfoort, Leusden, Soest, Maarssen and Utrecht. This week, Almere was also added to the list of cities. Now it only delivers in Almere Stad and Almere Poort. A second transhipment point (hub) in the city should ensure that Picnic's delivery vans will soon travel throughout the city.
In three years' time, the Picnic founders hope to operate in 40 or 50 cities. Picnic says it currently has 14,000 customers, about 70 per cent of whom keep coming back. Two hundred people work at the company.
Editorial team LogistiekProfs
