Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo will have its groceries delivered in ten minutes by the flash couriers of Gorillas. For now, the cooperation only concerns the eleven Dutch and the Flemish cities of Antwerp where the deliverers of Gorillas are active.
As part of the agreement, Jumbo will deliver a large part of the assortment to Gorillas, including various A-brands, Jumbo private label, organic and exclusive La Place products, a restaurant chain owned by Jumbo. With the collaboration, Jumbo wants to respond to flash delivery as an important innovation in the sector and hopes to grow its online sales as well.
Customer retention
Especially among young city dwellers, flash deliveries are now enormously popular. With its deal with the Berlin-based Gorillas, one of Europe’s fastest-growing start-ups with an investment of 1,1 billion euros, Jumbo seems to want to respond to this trend.
The cooperation will not immediately translate into higher profits for Jumbo, economic specialists predict. Since supermarket chain Albert Heijn started home delivery in the Netherlands in the late eighties, no supermarket has ever earned a euro on it. It is mainly about customer retention.
Eventually, flash deliveries will certainly be profitable, other market experts believe. But first, one company has to become the biggest. The four flash couriers that are currently active in the Netherlands – Gorillas, Flink, Getir, and Zapp – try to outdo each other with bottom prices and substantial discount codes.
In Belgium, it’s the same situation. Those who place an order with Gorillas, for example, pay 1,8 euros per delivery in Belgium. By way of comparison: who has goods delivered to his home by Delhaize, pays at least 5,95 euros. Carrefour asks for 5 euros.
Only when the consumer has committed to one app will that party be able to raise delivery and product costs and the actual costs will be passed on.
No Sunday allowance
Couriers of Gorillas also complained to De Volkskrant about bad working conditions. They were, for example, paid too little and too late (in Belgium, no complaints have been identified for the time being, but in Germany, things have already started to rumble). Jumbo wants to switch to the new e-commerce collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for all online activities, which will also cover the Gorillas couriers.
A difference with the supermarket CBA is that in that CBA, which was signed by the union De Unie, there is no question of a Sunday allowance, among other things.
Focus on Flanders
In Flanders, Gorillas is currently only active in Antwerp, but new towns can be added. According to De Tijd, the Brussels activities of Gorillas are not part of the deal. “We focus first on Dutch-speaking customers,” said Jumbo CEO Ton van Veen, to the newspaper.
By focusing on flash deliveries, Jumbo hopes to further grow its online sales. In 2021, Jumbo sold 30% more via the internet than in the year before. The turnover from online activities amounted to 650 million euros, more than 6,5% of the total turnover of 9,9 billion euros. However, the Dutch chain is not yet active in Belgium with its webshop.
In other markets, Gorillas has already signed cooperation agreements with national retailers, such as Tesco in Great Brittain, and Casino Group in France. Both in the Netherlands and Belgium, the company will expand further in 2022. Today, it is already active in 54 European cities in eight countries.
