Luxury UK retailer Waitrose is to construct a second e-commerce grocery depot in Coulsdon, South London.
The grocer, which currently fulfils London shoppers’ orders made on Waitrose.com through a network of London branches and a dotcom fulfilment centre (DFC) in Acton, West London, will open the second site in Autumn 2014, employing some 500 members of staff.
The multi-million pound depot will more than double the number of orders fulfilled in the capital, with twice as many orders per week fulfilled as at Acton. The purpose-built, six acre site will feature an 80,000 sq ft picking space - twice the size of that at Acton - and allow up to 50% more items to be picked per hour and up to 50% more drops per van to be made per week at the Coulsdon DFC.
The second DFC will build upon the traditional ‘dark store’ model operated at Acton - where employees pick products from aisles laid out like a customer-facing branch.
A redesigned fleet of vans, with on-site access to repair services and refuelling, will increase the number of deliveries made to customers on any one journey, maintain frozen food temperatures for longer, increase route efficiencies and cut transport costs.
Shoppers in the capital whose orders are fulfilled by the Coulsdon DFC will be able to choose from one-hour delivery slots between 6am and midnight and continue to get free delivery on orders over £50.
Waitrose retail director, Rob Collins, said: “Demand from Waitrose.com shoppers in the capital has soared over the last year. Our dotcom fulfilment centre in Acton will reach capacity in 2014, and we have been looking for the right location for a second for some time.
Collins added, “The DFC in Coulsdon provides the perfect, purpose-built site for us to take what we have learnt from Acton and step our online operation up a gear.”
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Ellen Lunney
