Post Danmark hails “huge potential” of grocery delivery business
Post Danmark is getting into the business of making grocery deliveries for an online supermarket.
The postal operator, which has been hit hard in recent years by the digitisation of letters in Denmark, while struggling to make the most of e-commerce growth in the face of high levels of competition, is partnering with the retailer Irma.dk to deliver food items to the doorstep.
Irma is part of the Coop Danmark group, and one of the oldest grocery chains in the world with around 80 brick-and-mortar stores, mainly in the Copenhagen metropolitan area.
Previously Irma.dk had been delivering mainly to the metropolitan area in and around Copenhagen, but the partnership with Post Danmark will mean extending deliveries to a much larger area in Denmark, including the island of Funen and the mainland, Jutland.
Within the Copenhagen area, the new service will continue to offer one-hour delivery windows for goods during the afternoon and evening.
Henning Christensen, head of PostNord Denmark, Post Danmark’s parent company, said his firm saw an exciting market with “huge potential” providing service logistics of the kind.
“Based on our core competencies in logistics and distribution, we will be the ones who are shipping all that Danes need to their homes, whether it’s packages or food and groceries,” he said.
“The agreement with Irma.dk is an ideal partnership between two strong brands to benefit the increasing number of online grocery customers in Denmark.”
Distribution
The arrangement with Irma.dk will see the retailer packing fresh groceries into plastic boxes or sealed thermal boxes for refrigerated and frozen items. Post Danmark will retrieve these items three times each day from the Irma.dk warehouse in Albertslund, on the western fringes of the Copenhagen suburbs.
The Post will then distribute the packages through its existing distribution centres across the country, from where mail carriers will provide delivery to the doorstep.
Deliveries will be offered next day in the Copenhagen area, or within two days in other parts of the country. Delivery prices are DKK 49 (EUR 6.57) in Copenhagen and DKK 59 (EUR 7.91) in other areas, but will be free for orders above DKK 1,200 (EUR 161) in value.
Gregers Wedell-Wedellsborg, executive vice president at Irma.dk, said that this year, Irma’s website has seen its sales grow by 80%.
“We have reached this agreement with the country’s leading distributor, Post Danmark, to strengthen services for our customers and reach out to a larger part of Denmark,” he said.
“This ensures reliable and flexible distribution, and we look forward to jointly developing this business.”
