Delhaize Taps Consumer Centricity Abroad

Already a core piece of Food Lion and Hannaford Bros.’ retail strategies, an automated assortment- and space-planning optimization solution to support a consumer-centric merchandising strategy is being added to parent company Delhaize Group’s Belgium-based stores.

Delhaize, a Belgian food retailer that operates more than 2,700 stores within seven countries on three continents, is committed to delivering high levels of customer service. The best way to facilitate a higher service level, the company said, is to differentiate its stores through consumer-centric assortments. The company plans to achieve this by implementing the Automated Micro Assortment Planner and Automated Micro Space Planner solutions from Galleria, Chicago.

“Delhaize is a big name within European retail, with a clear vision of what customer centricity can be,” said Ian Duncan-Lewis, CEO, Galleria. “They are committed to using advanced retail technologies with proven track records of success. This will enable them to tailor their product offering to meet individual customer needs.”

The solution, which delivers customer-centric assortments communicated through tailored, automated plano-grams, initially will support more than 150 Delhaize stores across Belgium. Delhaize’s decision to create a consumer-centric strategy follows the successful implementation of the solution at both Food Lion and Hannaford Bros. in 2006.

“We expected the tool to allow us to maintain our successful low-cost operator model while providing our associates, our banners and our stores with consistent, accurate and perceptive information that will be used to deliver our customers the merchandise they want,” Dennis Post, Food Lion’s VP of solutions delivery, told Chain Store Age in a past interview.

Similar to its U.S. operations, Delhaize expects more accurate and efficient planograms to increase sales, improve product availability, reduce markdowns and accelerate inventory turns.

Delhaize, which is currently using the software to manage two product categories in two stores, plans to roll out the technology by mid-year.