Superquinn Case Study

Case Study: www.superquinn.ie

Company

Feargal Quinn opened his first Superquinn shop in 1960 and so began a revolution in Irish Grocery retailing. Now, over 50 years on, Superquinn has 24 stores and has gained an international reputation as a leader in customer service & retail innovation. Superquinn has a 10.46% shareholding in Buy4now. In October 2011, it was acquired by the Musgrave Group.


Challenge

By early 2000 there were strong indicators that Tesco were developing an online channel for the Irish marketplace. Since all Irish grocers had already felt the impact of the multinational within the Irish market, any move into the online arena could represent a further cannibalization of the market. With Tesco having already developed a successful online operation in the UK, it was imperative for Superquinn to be “first to market” in the online arena.

For Superquinn, with a reputation for quality and innovation, the challenge was to create an online grocery website and operation that was both profitable and maintained the level of quality and service for which Superquinn was known. This website would then be used to win the “early adopters” who were already clamouring for an online grocery service. This challenge was helped by the fact that, by October 2000, Superquinn launched the first online grocery site in the Irish market.

  

Solution

Superquinn had a limited home delivery service already in place, however this facility did not cater for delivering chilled or frozen food. An in-store picking solution was designed, whereby orders were picked and stored in 6 Dublin-based stores. Using the addresses provided at registration, customers were assigned to a store, where their order was picked, staged and made ready to deliver.

The full Buy4Now software suite was installed into Superquinn stores and Support Office so that staff could pick, pack and deliver orders as efficiently as possible and Support Office could monitor all aspects of the operation.

In September 2009 Superquinn launched their new and improved corporate, rewards and shopping sites.
With their customers in mind there was a focus on usability and additional features to help assist in an even better shopping experience.

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Registered in Ireland at 9 The Mall, Beacon Court, Bracken Road, Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin 18. Company Number 323428.