Price
Technology
Having an attractive assortment
and innovative private brand prod
ucts is necessary. But it is not suffi
cient - the Group also needs to offer
both at attractive prices. This is why
Delhaize Group continues to invest
in price competitiveness and looks
for value leadership, which is trans
lated into offering quality products
at affordable prices.
Delhaize Group's commitment to
value leadership was tested again
in 2012 and the Group took many
actions to defend its relative price
position with the price leaders in the
markets where it operates. Delhaize
Group's operating companies main
tained their targeted price gaps and
further reduced them where possi
ble. The Group has also undertaken
efforts to further strengthen its pric
ing systems, allowing its respective
operating companies to make price
investments where those invest
ments have the highest impact for
our customers.
And for customers to understand
the impact of the price investments,
Delhaize Group's operating compa
nies have to clearly communicate
these investments to the customers.
As done in previous years, several
marketing campaigns in different
countries underscored the fact that
Delhaize Group's many operating
companies really care about the
purchasing power of the custom
ers. One of the local campaigns that
Delhaize Serbia ran, "Falling Prices
at Maxi" even received international
attention for its clarity and humor.
It has been discussed before and
remains the case today - Technology
is increasingly present in supermar
kets and this is expected to be the
case for the foreseeable future. Our
customers demand more technolog
ical convenience and the company
benefits from the increased trans
parency and efficiency resulting from
technological investments. To coor
dinate the Group's customer-facing
technological efforts, implement a
global digital strategy and ensure
that remain competitive in the indus
try, Delhaize Group created and filled
in 2012 the new role of Senior Vice
President - Digital.
In 1989, with Caddy Home, Delhaize
Belgium was one of the first super
markets to offer home delivery to its
customers. Today Delhaize Belgium
is building on this experience and on
this service with its buy-and-collect
service - Delhaize Direct.
With Delhaize Direct a customer can
order at home via a dedicated web
site and then pick up the ready-to
go, filled, grocery bags at store of
the customer's choice. At the end
of 2012 118 stores were equipped
with a Delhaize Direct pick-up point.
Building on this success in Belgium,
the Group is running trials for this
technology at other operating com
panies with the intention to deploy
the concept as soon as it proves fea
sible. In addition, Delhaize Belgium
also created the Delhaize Direct-
Cube, a virtual supermarket that
allowed customers to do their shop
ping using their mobile device by
scanning products on a billboard. In
the U.S., Delhaize America's Hanna-
ford banner uses the Hannaford.com
website to support customers who
want to plan both their shopping
and cooking experiences, offering
detailed information on products
(from pricing to ingredients) and a
comprehensive list-making app.
Delhaize Direct pick-up
points in Belgium
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