Swiss supermarket Volg expands online shop in 2017

Swiss supermarket chain Volg will further expand its online trade in 2017. The retailer already lets customers in selected villages order their groceries online and the concept has proven to be successful. Soon, more customers in Switzerland can order their goods on a larger scale.

Since June 2015, Volg has a home delivery service called ‘Frisch vom Volg’, which can be seen as the retailer’s first step into online trading. In 34 rural, German-speaking communities, customers are able to order their groceries online and have them delivered at home the next morning.

Expansion of online offer happens in spring 2017

And this offer has proven to be successful, Ferdinand Hirsig, head of the retail and energy division at parent company Fenaco, told Handelszeitung. “It works and there is a demand, although it’s still on a small level.” Therefore the company will expand its offering in the spring of 2017 to more municipalities and regions in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.

The online shop of Volg will be available in those communities where Volg is present with a physical supermarket. The exact terms are still secret, but it’s known that Volg will work together with Swiss Post as its logistics partner.

Not an attack on other vendors’

Hirsig emphasizes the expansion of its ecommerce business should not be seen as an attack on other vendors. “We want to do ecommerce the ‘Volg-way’, but our core competence remains the local presence. We are aware that the online trade will remain a marginal phenomenon with us.”

When a customer orders groceries at Volg’s online shop with a value of over 100 Swiss Francs, the delivery fee of 10 Swiss Francs will be dropped. There’s no minimum order value.