Thanks to the opening of a new hub, Picnic can now expand to Apeldoorn after all. The online supermarket had been eyeing the city for some time, but could not find a suitable transshipment location.
It has now found that in a former escaperoom on Kanaal Noord in Apeldoorn. Picnic will start there at the beginning of June, initially with eight electric delivery vans and 25 delivery staff. By the end of this year, that number should grow to 20 trolleys and 60 delivery staff.
Expansion East and North Netherlands
Picnic currently operates in over 70 Dutch cities. The app-only supermarket operates here with seven hundred delivery vans, thirty hubs and five fulfilment centres. "The focus for this year is on growth in the east and north of the Netherlands, because unfortunately consumers cannot yet use our service there," co-founder Michiel Muller told the Levensmiddelenkrant. At the end of May, Picnic will start doing so in Deventer, from where it can start delivering in the east of the Netherlands.
Profitability
The supermarket is also growing fast in Germany, with Picnic's red delivery vans already in ten German cities. Over the next three years, the online shop plans to roll out nationwide in both the Netherlands and Germany. "After those three years of further investment, Picnic will become profitable," Muller said. The supermarket posted a net loss of 45.5 million euros in 2017. Muller is not worried about those red figures yet. "Today's loss is tomorrow's profit. In Picnic's early days, the concept quickly turned out to be a success, so we focused entirely on growth."
