Less than two months after the opening of its second online fulfilment centre in London, Waitrose has announced plans for a third such site to meet the increasing demand for grocery deliveries.
The new centre, in Greenford, West London, will be opened and operated with logistics company Wincanton. Waitrose already has a 20-year relationship with the firm through its supply operations for the supermarket chain.
Waitrose stated that the joint approach will mean the site could be up and running as early as December of this year, significantly increasing the availability of delivery slots for its customers in and around the capital. Once established, the centre will create around 800 jobs.
Across the country, Waitrose online orders are mostly picked and delivered to customers from its network of shops, covering nearly 90% of active UK postcodes. To help meet high demand in London, Waitrose already has dedicated online fulfilment centres in Coulsdon and Enfield (opened 7 May), which supplement deliveries from selected shops in the region.
Waitrose has been expanding its online business in preparation for its split from Ocado in September. These expansion plans have helped it respond to increased demand for online grocery shopping during the coronavirus pandemic. The retailer has more than doubled the weekly slots that customers can book since the start of the year, with it now able to handle more than 150,000 orders each week.
Waitrose Executive Director James Bailey said: “While we’ve already pulled forward our online expansion plans by six months we know there are still lots of people who want to shop online with us and currently can’t. This is especially the case in London, where we’ve seen a significant and prolonged surge in demand for our online offer. This new centre will help us better serve the London area with a much broader range of slots.”
NAM Implications:
- A no-brainer for Waitrose to optimise potential online demand.
- (especially in high-density London)
- Key to ensure that you keep in step?
