Retail chain Blokker is to substantially expand its online assortment now that it has opened a new fulfilment centre. The number of products that Blokker will soon offer online will be four times that offered in-store.

The new fulfilment centre is located in Gouda and has an area of 15,000 square metres, which Blokker intends to expand to 37,000 square metres. That expansion will take place from March 2016. The old warehouse became too small for Blokker as it was six times smaller than the new warehouse after it was expanded.

Capacity expansion.
At full capacity, the fulfilment centre in Gouda will be able to process 20,000 online orders per day. In doing so, it will use employees working for the chain itself, leaving control of processing in the hands of Blokker. In this way, developments and costs are closely monitored: 'That is the core of our policy. Blokker.nl is the first large omnichannel retailer to do this. As a result, we are more flexible and offer the customer more service," explains supply chain director Koen van Doorn.

Nextail
Blokker works together with Nextail. They handle the online activities of the retail chain. Antoine Brouwer of Nextail sees a lot of perspective in the new warehouse: "The road to better access to our online assortment is now open. With this new fulfilment centre, we are further strengthening our service promise of the endless aisle, or the digital extension of our physical shop offering." He adds, "if the customer orders before 10pm, we can deliver the next day. That's good news for the customer and a promise that Blokker is proud to make."

Editorial LogistiekProfs