Holland & Barrett is one of Europe’s leading health and wellness retailers, with over 800 stores in the UK and Ireland. The company offers a broad range of specialist food, vitamins, supplements, sports nutrition and ethical beauty brands. The company has both a physical and online presence, with the latter hugely increasing in importance during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
classed as an essential retailer, Holland & Barrett could stay open during the pandemic. Demand for products remained high, especially in an increasingly health-conscious populace. However, footfall fell, and many customers moved online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company has made several major transformations to its network during the pandemic, with its original 12- to 18-month omnichannel roadmap being implemented in a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“COVID-19 sped us up but it didn’t alter our course,” explains Paz Khorana, Head of Multichannel Operations, praising the retailer’s internal technology team for their performance during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the early stages of the pandemic, the primary focus was on expanding capacity to meet the surge in demand. Working with delivery management software provider Metapack, the retailer expanded its Click & Collect capabilities and added the ability to fulfill online orders from stores. This capability to ship online orders from stores took less than two weeks to implement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holland & Barrett also added a pop-up fulfillment center with carrier DHL as an additional support channel for online fulfillment, while tapping into on-demand app Deliveroo’s network for additional delivery capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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