Holland & Barrett to invest €17.5m in Irish digital and retail fulfilment
Holland & Barrett is to invest €17.5 million in its digital and retail fulfilment in Ireland over the next three years.
The investment will include the health and wellness retailer moving its Irish online orders from the UK to Ireland. This will be done through an expanded three-year partnership with Kildare-based Road Truck Services (RTS), building on an eight-year relationship with the firm spanning import, customs, warehousing and distribution.
Subscribe to TRBThe move will include €8.2 million being invested in a new digital fulfilment model, alongside €9.3 million relating to existing retail fulfilment operations with RTS. This will bring the total investment to €17.5 million over the next three years.
Holland & Barrett said around €1.5 million of additional stock will be held locally, which means it will have a total Irish stockholding of approximately €4.7 million. Around 328,000 orders and 1.8 million units are expected to flow through the Irish logistics network each year.
Holland & Barrett said customers in Ireland can expect more choice on online orders from 1 November, with the existing 5kg weight limit lifted and additional products from 34 Irish brands available online. Next-day delivery is planned to launch from 1 December.
The retailer is continuing to expand in Ireland. Approximately 2.8 million customers shopped with the business over the past year, and it now operates 70 stores across the country.
Vineta Bajaj (pictured), group chief financial officer at Holland & Barrett, said: “Ireland is one of our strongest-performing markets and an important part of Holland & Barrett’s growth story. We’re seeing real momentum across both stores and digital, and we want to build on that by continuing to invest in the people, infrastructure and partnerships that will support our ambitions in Ireland for the long term.
“Our relationship with RTS has grown over eight years, and this next step means we can bring even more of our Irish operation closer to our customers. Holding more stock locally will help us deliver faster and offer greater choice and availability, while allowing us to continue investing in Ireland and building our presence in what is a very important market for us.”
