Mercadona opens a new base for online sales with the aim of reaching two million annual orders | Valencian Community

Mercadona inaugurates this Thursday its fourth hiveexclusive warehouse for sale on-line, in the city of Alicante. More than 14 million euros have been invested in it and the company expects to have a workforce of 185 people. The company will start the new service in the central area of ​​Alicante and will expand its radius of action in the coming weeks until it reaches a large part of the province and the city of Murcia. With the opening of this new hiveMercadona estimates to reach 2 million in orders on-line annual.

All customers in the delivery areas within the radius of action of the hives They have access to the new website and app to make their purchase and they can receive it from seven in the morning to ten at night, from Monday to Saturday. Mercadona has different sales models based on the demand for orders in each town, although all customers in these areas enjoy the same shopping experience, according to a statement.

On the one hand, the model hives serves areas with a high density of orders on-line. The one in Alicante joins the other three that the company has in operation in Valencia, in operation since 2018; that of Barcelona, ​​since 2019; and the one in Madrid, from 2020. A fifth will be added to them in Seville, which is scheduled to open during the second half of this year. The global investment of the four that are already underway reached 45 million euros, to which 15 million more were added for the fleet of own trucks. In 2021 it has increased its sales to 510 million euros, 40% more than in 2020.

On the other hand, a new preparation and distribution model from physical stores is also being developed for areas with a lower concentration of orders, as reported by the company. For now, this model is underway in part of Castellón and Tarragona and it is planned to continue expanding it in more stores with the aim of bringing the new purchase on-line to the rest of the cities. Mercadona has an online team made up of 1,600 people, mostly pickers and delivery men.

According to Juana Roig, general director of Mercadona Online, “with the opening of our fourth hive, we take another step in our vision of satisfying our customers on-line throughout Spain and Portugal. Having achieved the challenge of achieving profitability, today we face the challenge of expansion. For this, the use of technology is vital”. In fact, earlier this month They were opened new Mercadona offices for the project on-line in Madrid with which it seeks to incorporate talent to the technological team, expanding access to said profiles.