This month a Dutch startup brings its food delivery service to Germany. The “Online Supermarket comes to your home free of charge” – this is how Picnic markets himself on his website. All this with an innovative ordering concept.

With Albert Heijn, Coop, Jumbo & Co., the Netherlands are perhaps the best quality supermarkets in Europe. During my most recent visit to Amsterdam, I was delighted to see how even the smallest shops create real shopping experiences. The online supermarket Picnic as startup is now concerned with creating the smoothest and most satisfying shopping experience for its customers on the Internet.

The startup has carefully chosen its German startup. For example, they will initially start in the North Rhine-Westphalian cities of Neuss, Kaarst and Meerbusch and in Düsseldorf’s Oberkassel district. Subsequently, the operations are planned to be gradually transferred to other German cities in 2018.

Ordered by 10 p.m., delivered on time the next day

Picnic customers place their orders until 10 p.m. in the evening and then receive their purchases delivered to their homes the following day within a fixed time window. This process has a great advantage for the startup: the wholesalers order exactly the goods that are also ordered by the customers. This means that Picnic does not need to keep a stock or waste goods that are not purchased.

In the Netherlands, 80,000 customers already use the delivery service. The locations in Düsseldorf and the surrounding area were carefully selected at the Amsterdam headquarters. On the one hand, the proximity to the Dutch border is logistically practical. On the other hand, purchasing power in these test districts is high, with many wealthy Düsseldorfers living in Oberkassel or Meerbusch on the left bank of the Rhine.

Interesting also a detail to the van. Since there was no electric transporter available for Picnic for the start in 2015, they developed their own electric delivery van quite pragmatically. The 100 million in growth funds acquired in 2017 will certainly help with the expansion. Given the dynamism of Dutch merchants, we will certainly soon see other regions in Germany where picnic vans bring purchases to end customers. The last mile in retail – an exciting international expert comes to Germany.