BTL solves logistics for food store on the Internet

BTL solves logistics for food store on the Internet It has finally arrived. The Matomera food store has been designed exclusively for Internet trade. Starting on Monday it will be possible to buy food on the Internet at the same price as in a normal store. The big difference compared with earlier Internet stores lies in the picking store, where the goods are handled rapidly, efficiently and cheaply. The Bergendahl Group, a retail and wholesaling company operating in Sweden, realised at an early stage that it would not be possible to use a traditional food store as a starting point for its Internet store. In collaboration with Schenker-BTL, a totally new concept has been developed based on using a separate warehouse, where the goods can be picked efficiently without having to take into consideration "normal" customers. The volumes handled in the warehouse require just a fraction of the space compared with a normal supermarket and lead times from order to delivery can be reduced significantly. By using a unique packing system the consumer can even receive ice cream at the right temperature. Distribution is handled by Schenker-BTL, which has already acquired considerable experience in distributing directly to households. The consumers receive their goods during the evening, which permits a high degree of transport capacity utilisation. Domestic distribution also means that environmental impact can be reduced considerably compared with the equivalent transport by car. Many people are wary when it comes to paying via the Internet. The Matomera concept therefore includes the testing of a totally new system, which allows payment to be made by card at home. To handle this, Schenker-BTL's drivers are equipped with portable card terminals. Matthias Kettelhoit at BTL Consulting says: "This is a good example of how, as a logistics partner, we can develop new solutions in close cooperation with the customer. Internet trade is presenting new challenges to the logistics, retailing and distribution industries. Goods can be transported from the part of the business chain that is most advantageous and in doing so increase direct trade, which will in turn result in one or several parts of the distribution chain disappearing." BTL AB (publ) Public Affairs For further information, please contact: Åsa Lindell Byström, Director Public Affairs, on tel. +46 31 703 80 30, +46 705 83 45 63 or Matthias Kettelhoit, on tel. +46 705 83 44 06. The BTL Group is the largest transport and logistics group in Scandinavia and one of the largest in Europe. Extensive sea and air transport operations are carried on through the wholly-owned Wilson companies in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. The Group has approximately 11,000 employees and net sales for 1997 totalled SEK 18 billion. Together with the German transport group Schenker, BTL has established Europe's leading land transport network under the Schenker-BTL name.