Frozen foods retailer Iceland has announced the creation of 3,000 new positions to support a 300% increase in demand for home deliveries in the past year.
The introduction of lockdown measures saw a fourfold increase in delivery orders, placed both online and in-store, and the group has invested in a number of new roles, from in-store teams to delivery drivers.
“We’ve been blown away by the demand for deliveries over the past six months with a four-fold increase in online orders since the beginning of lockdown," commented David Devany, chief customer and digital officer at Iceland Foods. "We see no sign of a slowdown in the demand for deliveries in the run up to Christmas, so a recruitment drive for more permanent staff was essential.
“Our store and delivery colleagues have gone above and beyond during lockdown introducing incredible measures to help their local communities."
Delivery Fleet
Iceland said that it is increasing its delivery fleet by 30%, to meet what is likely to be increased demand as the weather shifts.
As a result of the investment, shoppers in London can now get their groceries delivered in 20 minutes, due to the retailer's partnership with UberEats, it added.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
