Ikea Amsterdam introduces an innovative solution for Click & Collect orders and can bid farewell to the external warehouse of 7800 square meters.
The thoroughly renovated store now incorporates Pick-Up lockers and two large collection machines, making it even easier for customers to collect their orders. The advanced machines, standing 8 meters tall and 8.5 meters in diameter, are reminiscent of a giant soda vending machine: you enter the code of the online order, after which the machine retrieves and hands over your order. Ikea Amsterdam is the first branch worldwide to have such a system in the store.
Click & Collect
With Ikea's Click & Collect service, customers can place an order online and choose where and when to pick it up, such as at the Order & Collect departments in Ikea stores. This service is becoming increasingly popular, so the Swedish furniture giant is looking for smart solutions to meet this growing demand - such as with the transformation of Ikea Amsterdam where the Click & Collect orders are now offered in collection machines and smaller orders in Pick-Up lockers.
Ikea staff place the orders on a cart at the top of the machines. The customer then enters a code at the order hatch, after which the order begins its journey downwards. The collection machines can issue 480 orders per day. This new way of collecting orders is part of Ikea's omnichannel strategy, which aims to increase the accessibility of existing and new sales channels. This allows customers to shop at Ikea wherever and whenever they want. For this reason, Ikea is investigating whether it is possible to offer the Click & Collect service outside of store opening hours.
Behind the scenes of the collection machine (left) and order in collection machine (right).
Transformation
To create space for the machines in the store and permanently close the doors of the external warehouse, the Amsterdam branch underwent a transformation. The Click & Collect orders are stored vertically (in height) in the new cylindrical machines instead of horizontally (on the floor), which saves a lot of space in the branch. The transition to 100% self-scan checkouts also saves many square meters. The freed-up space has been used for a reorganisation of the warehouse, allowing significantly more products to be stored and the inventory to be replenished more efficiently throughout the day.
Youssef Zouhair, logistics director Ikea Netherlands: 'I am proud of our team. The implementation of the collection machines and the reorganization of the warehouse were not easy. Yet we were not closed for a single day because a large part of the renovation work took place in the evening and at night. We dared to undertake this exciting project because it is the ideal logistical solution for both the customer and Ikea.'
Entering code at order hatch (left) and Pick-Up lockers (right).
External warehouse redundant
Thanks to this reorganisation and smart solutions, the external warehouse of nearly eight thousand square meters can close its doors. Previously, customers had to drive about 10 minutes after their store visit to collect their purchases there. Now all products are offered from the warehouse in the store. This is a major improvement for both customers and Ikea Amsterdam. Ikea Netherlands is exploring the possibilities to implement the vending machine system in other branches.
More information:
Ikea
www.ikea.nl