STELLARTON, NS, March 22,
2022 /CNW/ - Empire Company Limited ("Empire" or the
"Company") (TSX: EMP.A) today announced that following the launch
of Voilà par IGA on March
7, it is now ramping up operations of its new online grocery
home delivery service in Quebec.
The rollout is progressing well and once complete, Voilà par
IGA will service more than 100 municipalities from Gatineau to Montreal to Quebec
City. Customers can order online at voila.ca or by
downloading the Voilà mobile app.
Voilà par IGA replaces the existing IGA.net service in
Quebec, providing customers with
an unmatched and significantly upgraded online ordering and
home-delivery experience. Customers will now have many more
one-hour delivery windows to choose from, 7 days a week, from
6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Customers will also
enjoy better order accuracy, a freshness guarantee, and a wider
assortment of products (with no hidden fees). At capacity, Voilà
par IGA will offer up to 39,000 products, a wider assortment
than a grocery store. Customers can purchase favourites from IGA,
Ricardo, Rachelle Béry, Kim Phat and
more. Customers shopping in regions not covered by the Voilà par
IGA service will continue to be served by IGA.net.
Powered by Ocado Group plc's technology, Voilà par IGA
fills orders through a state-of-the-art Customer Fulfilment Centre
("CFC") in Pointe-Claire, Quebec.
Teammates and robots assemble orders efficiently with minimal
product handling, while Voilà teammates safely deliver orders
directly to the customer. At scale, Voilà par IGA will
create approximately 1,500 jobs in operations, customer service,
order assembly and home delivery.
"This is a great evolution for our customers – the best online
grocery home delivery service in the world is now here in
Quebec. IGA was Quebec's first grocery retailer to launch
online grocery shopping in 1996," said Pierre St-Laurent, Chief Operating Officer,
Empire. "Building on our success over the last 25 years, Voilà's
cutting edge technology re-affirms IGA's position as an innovator
and market leader in grocery e-commerce. Voilà par IGA
offers customers a wider assortment, including an impressive lineup
of made-in-Quebec products. The
technology allows us to have greater control over product
freshness, order accuracy, and the delivery experience."
The Pointe-Claire CFC is Empire's second grocery e-commerce
facility, following their first CFC in the Greater Toronto Area launched in June 2020. The Company will launch a third CFC in
Calgary in 2023, and a fourth CFC
in British Columbia will launch in
2025.
ABOUT EMPIRE
Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company
headquartered in Stellarton, Nova
Scotia. Empire's key businesses are food retailing, through
wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc., and related real estate. With
approximately $29.2 billion in annual
sales and $16.4 billion in assets,
Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ
approximately 134,000 people.
Additional financial information relating to Empire, including
the Company's Annual Information Form, can be found on the
Company's website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Empire Company Limited