The chief executive of Aldi has hailed the “strong progress” being made by the discounter’s ecommerce business, saying it will deliver £100m of sales by the end of the year.
The boss of the discounter’s UK and Ireland business, Giles Hurley, said the retailer had sold 10.7 million bottles of wine online since it launched the channel in 2016 and was looking to introduce certain ambient offerings to its digital range.
“Our ecommerce business is making strong progress. By the end of 2019 it will deliver £100m of annual revenue and is growing rapidly. More than 10.7 million bottles of wine have been sold online since launch,” said Hurley.
“Transaction numbers for the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2018, were up over 50% and we’ve recently added spirits and certain ambient products – such as coffee pods – to our online range.”
Hurley also said that Aldi had signed a “logistics partnership” with AO.com, which he said would “further enhance our delivery proposition”.
“Aldi customers ordering special buy products online will benefit from the range of services that AO can offer, such as more weekend delivery options and timed delivery windows.”
Despite his excitement around the possibilities that ecommerce would offer Aldi in reaching customers who currently “don’t have easy access to a physical store”, Hurley reiterated that the retailer’s focus was on its bricks-and-mortar store estate.
“We’re very excited by what we’re doing because we’re bringing our offer to more customers than ever across the UK. The figures I mentioned and the growth in online are a testament to that,” he said.
“Yet, almost 50% of the UK population don’t shop with us, which is why we believe we can open between 200 and 250 stores. That tells you that our focus is on our bricks-and-mortar business.”
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