Spar launches online shop
spar.hu
Retail chain Spar has announced the launch of its online shop, with home delivery services available in Budapest and 49 nearby towns, in a HUF 960 million development creating almost 100 new jobs.
Photo: spar.hu
The company has been testing the new service with the involvement of SuperShop card owners and six vehicles in Budapest in recent weeks, with official operation beginning on May 6, Márk Maczelka, communications head at Spar Hungary, says in a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.
Spar says that the growth of e-commerce both worldwide and domestically necessitated the introduction of the online shop. The company is aiming at a group of customers, mostly aged 25-49, who cannot visit a store in person due to their busy schedules.
Deliveries are available between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday. Delivery costs are between HUF 499 and HUF 999, while taking delivery of ordered goods via the so-called "Drive-In" method costs HUF 150. For purchases worth more than HUF 25,000, the service is free.
"Drive-In" points are located at Interspar hypermarkets in Pesterzsébet, Diósd, and Szentendre, where customers can personally receive their orders while sitting in their cars. Orders are placed in environment-friendly paper bags. Until delivery, a separate storage and cooling chain guarantees the freshness of the products.
Every hypermarket product is available in the online store, with some 18,000 products available at the same price as inside the stores. The service is accessible via any platform, be it computer, smartphone, or tablet. The online shop also has an online and telephone customer service, available during delivery hours.
For the physical delivery itself, Spar has painted 20 Peugeot Boxer trucks "Spar Red." The trucks have a special storage space, with deep frozen products stored in battery-powered coolers until they reach customer doorsteps. Deliveries are currently handled by 45 drivers, assisted by six customer service employees, 33 people assembling orders, and 14 organizers.
Spar expects that in the early period, the yearly turnover of its online shop will equal that of an Interspar store, with an average customer basket value of HUF 15,000. In the future, the company plans to expand the service to include more settlements.
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