For a year and a half, Marit van Egmond has now been in charge at Albert Heijn. She removed a management layer, opened the first checkout-less supermarket and faced the corona pandemic. How people do their shopping is going to change permanently, she says.
Since the corona crisis erupted and millions of Dutch people have been more or less home-bound, turnover in the supermarket has risen to unprecedented heights. At Albert Heijn, canned goods hoarding consumers and luxury aficionados who crave a five-star meal at home ensure that every month is now a Christmas month in terms of sales. At least that’s the rumor.
That is not too bad, says Marit van Egmond (47), since February last year the top woman at Albert Heijn. “In the first weeks of the crisis in March, we saw a peak period, when customers really started buying a lot of products at the same time. Consumption patterns have now returned to normal, but volumes are still higher than a year ago around this time. We are growing. ”
“I think what is happening now has a lasting impact on customer behavior. I see that in three areas with us. Digitization and technology are booming. That was already underway, but the corona crisis has accelerated it. People do not want to have cash in their hands, do more targeted shopping, fewer contact moments. The use of self-scanners is increasing, as is pin payments. The AH app had about 200,000 unique users per week in early 2019. Now there are 1.8 million.
“Right from my appointment in February 2019, I have invested heavily in digital. I can no longer imagine a world without Tikkie or Parkmobile, and technology is also part of everyday life at our customers’ homes. Albert Heijn wants to make shopping just as easy, with digital solutions. We are a food tech company, with a love for food but certainly also for technology. ”
“Certainly not, rather too slow. We recently added digital sales stamps to the app, and you immediately see that a lot more people download them, of all ages. They want to use that technology. Payment can be made easier in many ways. Look at Apple Pay, how fast it has grown. ”
“I think technology is moving so fast that you may soon wonder whether even self-checkout registers are still needed. There are so many other ways you can walk in and out of a store and pay. I don’t see why we have to hang on to an assembly line with an employee at the end. When you see how many people now do digital banking at home, I think: they can also do digital shopping. We also help to familiarize older people with this. ”
“And with service employees who can answer your questions and help where necessary, but indeed: that is the future. In that future I imagine that we know the customer better and better. So that we know what his preferences are. Being able to prepare things online, help find their way in the store, warn if someone with a gluten allergy buys something that contains gluten, help a vegan put together a meal, suggest a matching wine when buying a piece of meat. The mobile phone, or whatever your personal device will look like in the future, will play the leading role in this. ”
“It’s about the payment process, not so much about the checkout. The hardware with which we pay will look different. ”
Laughing: “Different from a cash register. Yes.’
“After every press conference about Covid-19, we immediately see sales of kiwis and oranges, everything containing vitamin C, soaring. People are much more aware of what they eat. On the Allerhande website, our customers search for recipes that take a long time, while previously popular recipes were those that are ready in less than 15 minutes. Above all, it had to be done quickly. Now “stew” and “oven” are the key terms. People spend more time at home and pay more attention to what they eat.
“We also receive many more questions about where food comes from, and we see a huge increase in interest in products from the Netherlands. That apparently feels better known, safer, close by. I think people also want to support the local economy. In addition, the corona crisis has highlighted the length and complexity of supply chains. ”
Competition
“The need is all the way,” was Van Egmond’s message, according to insiders, during the Albert Heijn Shopping Days at the end of last year, during which the AH management will discuss the course for the coming year with the store management. “In Zaandam they notice that the market share is under pressure,” an attendee at the time told the trade journal Distrifood. “That’s why the knobs are now being turned.”
Albert Heijn continues to expand, with thirty new stores this year, but is now being hunted by two very fast-growing competitors. On the one hand, there is Jumbo, which has grown from 174 to 673 stores over the past ten years and thus more than fivefold its turnover. Jumbo now has 22 percent of the market with its promise of quality and service for the lowest price. Still much less than the 35 percent that Albert Heijn has, but the people of Brabant are close to the Zaandammers.
On the other hand, online supermarket Picnic is coming up, a small but rapidly growing newcomer that is making huge strides in the online grocery market. Albert Heijn is also the largest there, and expects online sales to exceed a billion for the first time this year, but must arm itself to maintain its leading position in the longer term.
“Because I believe we should be closer to the customer, closer to the store and closer to what’s happening online. So that we have shorter lines and can respond more quickly to what the customer expects from us. ”
“We respond to what the customers want. And that is changing much faster than before. Due to the advent of the internet and extensive traveling: much more information is available. Look at non-alcoholic beer, which was just not done five years ago. At the same time, the company has grown enormously. Then at a certain point you get too many management layers and you have to intervene to stay close to the market, to remain agile and fast. ”
‘No. We are guided by what the customer wants, not what the competition is doing. ”
Since taking office, Van Egmond has emphasized the importance of healthy eating and the social responsibility of Albert Heijn as the largest seller of food products and one of the largest companies in the Netherlands. Food coaches on the shop floor help people to make “tasty, healthy, and sustainable” choices. Sugar disappears from products in large quantities. Young store employees receive homework help from Albert Heijn, the Red Cross praises in the corona crisis “the substantial donations that Albert Heijn made to help vulnerable people quickly”.
“The homework help has been around for ten years, and we have been the largest donor to the Food Bank for six or seven years. Our company plays a major role in society, here and in Belgium. In the Netherlands, our products are on an average of five million plates every day. That gives responsibility. It is in the Albert Heijn DNA. If we remove one lump of sugar from the vanilla custard, it will yield a lot of health benefits. Because of our scale. “
