Jumbo goes online, raring to compete with Albert Heijn

Supermarket chain Jumbo will expand its market by going online and, in so doing, challenge current market leader Albert Heijn. Initially, the chain will only open points for grocery pick-up, but its plans also foresee home-delivery service, z24 reports. Jumbo has imminent plans to open three to five grocery pick-up points every week. This means that by summer the company will have a hundred collection points all over the country. The Brabant chain is hoping to catch up quickly with Albert Heijn, currently the only home-delivery market chain. But it will still take years before Jumbo is ready for home-delivery service, Jumbo financial director Ton van Even told Het Financieele Dagblad. "Last year, after two years of preparation, we began with 28 pick-up points. We're now passed the teething stage, so we can significantly accelerate our growth," he said. Online shopping is still a difficult area for supermarkets, and Van Veen knows it. The financial director says it is hard to make a profit, but doing nothing is even more dangerous. "If we don't do it, we'll lose our sales, as customers seek services from somewhere else. If we do it, we keep the sales and might even get some revenue from it," he is quoted as saying in z24. Jumbo has grown during the past five years, becoming the second-largest supermarket in the Netherlands. Store sales grew 3.5 percent in a virtually flat market last year and Jumbo Holding consumer sales now represent a 20 percent market share, reports z24.