Axfood AB is set to start an e-commerce pilot project to consumers. Starting on 22 April, 100 selected customers – in this first step only Axfood employees – will be able to order groceries online from Hemköp’s Torsplan store in Stockholm and then pick them up in grocery bags at the store or have them delivered directly to them at home. “This is the first step of a pilot project,” comments Anders Strålman, President and CEO of Axfood. “During the autumn we will expand the trial to an additional two of our stores in Stockholm.”
In the next ten years, the amount of money that people in Sweden spend on e-commerce will increase dramatically, from SEK 54 billion to about SEK 300 billion, according to a new report published by HUI Research. The food retail sector will account for a large part of this growth, as interest in having groceries delivered home is growing rapidly, mainly among consumers – mostly in big cities – who are short on time.
“We are seeing growing interest in e-commerce among all of our customers,” says Strålman, who views digital business as a vital complement to traditional store sales in the future.
Shopping for groceries online has had annual growth of around 40%, but from very low levels in terms of total volume for the food retail sector. There are also a number of challenges, such as in logistics and how to handle refrigerated and frozen products.
“We see exciting opportunities in this growth, in combination with the current digital trend. Within the next five years, digital sales of groceries will likely account for a significantly larger share,” says Anders Strålman.
At present, Axfood already conducts extensive e-commerce for groceries, but in the form of business-to-business (B2B) sales via Axfood Närlivs and Axfood Snabbgross to customers. They also supplies groceries to the home delivery companies Linas Matkasse and Middagsfrid.
For further information, please contact:
Claes Salomonsson, Director Press Relations, Axfood AB, tel. +46-702-89 89 83
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Axfood aspires to be the leader in good and sustainable food. Our family of companies includes the store chains Willys and Hemköp as well as Tempo, Handlar’n and Direkten. B2B sales are handled through Axfood Snabbgross, and our support company Dagab is responsible for the Group’s product development, purchasing and logistics. The Axfood family also includes Mat.se, Middagsfrid and Urban Deli as well as the partly owned companies Apohem and Eurocash. Together the Group has more than 10,000 employees and sales of nearly SEK 50 bn. Axfood has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 1997, and the principal owner is Axel Johnson AB. Read more at www.axfood.se