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Austrian online supermarket Alfies now also supplies Swiss households. The product range is very wide: at Alfies.ch, customers can choose from around 4,500 products that Alfies initially delivers to the greater Zurich area from a 1,500 square meter warehouse in Schlieren ZH. Blick spoke with co-founder and managing director Gunther Michl (41) about the offers and plans in Switzerland.
Where does Alfies source its products?
“Alfies currently works with 40 partners across Switzerland,” explains Michl. Direct suppliers include companies such as Nestlé, Emmi, Coca-Cola and Doubt. Alfies are also partly supplied by wholesalers and regional Swiss producers. The assortment consists of three categories: “Supermarket celebrities”; It includes branded products from the food, beverage/alcohol, kiosk/tobacco, baby, pet and personal care sectors. “Regional specialties” include meat from Zurich butcher shop Minnig, Turbinenbräu beer, Stoll coffee and pastries from Fredy’s AG. “We cook it ourselves in strips to guarantee freshness,” says Michl. “International specialties” include brands little known in this country, such as Augustiner or Tegernseer beer or Austrian chocolate. “We are constantly expanding our product range,” explains Michl. Customers will soon be able to choose from 6,000 products.
How much does delivery cost and how long does it take?
Delivery within 60 minutes is guaranteed for an additional charge of 2.95 to 4.95 francs depending on the delivery address. Otherwise within 120 minutes. Orders can be placed between 8am and 10pm, Monday to Saturday, and Alfies will be delivered by midnight. The minimum order amount for free delivery is only 29 francs – in the Coop.ch online supermarket it is 100 francs. It is delivered with 11 fully electric Renault Kangoos. For now only Zurich, Adliswil ZH, Birmensdorf ZH, Dietikon ZH, Regensdorf ZH, Rudolfstetten-Friedlisberg AG, Schlieren ZH, Wallisellen ZH, Wettingen AG, Würenlos AG and Zollikon ZH. This means Alfies has potentially reached 600,000 people.
How is Alfie different from his competitors?
Migros.ch, Coop.ch, Aldi-now, Volg and Farmy also offer supermarket home delivery. “Coop is our reference,” says Michl. He admits that the product range is clearly wider and is delivered all over Switzerland. “Our unique selling points are the level of service, speed, no quantity limit and recycling, for example by returning bottles,” says Michl. Alfies drivers take back the tank bottles and give the tank as a receipt. By the way: In addition to card and Twint payments, cash payments are also possible.
Who is in the target group?
Urban people aged 18 to 50: “Because they are internet savvy and our experience shows that, especially in cities, people often order from home, even though there are a lot of shopping opportunities,” says Michl. In Switzerland, Michl expects the average shopping cart value to be 100 francs.
What does further expansion look like?
“We are looking for new warehouse locations where we can expand the Zurich area or serve new cities,” says Michl. Alfies is doing well financially: “Operationally, we have been profitable in Austria for a long time.” Partner Coca-Cola HBC Switzerland supports the expansion. Expanding the offer, such as the delivery of electronic products, is not considered.
What are the chances of the newcomer?
Alfies has had almost no advertising so far. No matter how good its product range and service are, Alfies needs to gain customers and grow quickly; otherwise interest will quickly evaporate once it enters the market. This is a far cry from Coop.ch’s sales of 360 million.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
