The story of a distribution center

Owner of a Distribution Center – Lecce

“Ours is a company that celebrated its 50th birthday in 2018, we are in the third generation. We’re a small company and we’ve slowly been growing over the past few years by distributing to local bars and grocery stores. In the early 2000s for the better part of ten years, we were members of a consortium. When the opportunity to enter the world of Lekkerland came about we were only just affiliates. To me, it seemed like a great opportunity to make a change and so on January 1, 2012, we decided to participate as a partner”

The previous consortium was focused on impulse products, while Lekkerland had a specialization in the retail world, providing a multitude of contracts and relationships with companies that were ideal for on-shelf products, thus responding perfectly to our desire and need to be more competitive to approach customers that until then we could not even come close to in the past, through beverages for example.

Among other things, 2012 was the year in which the agreement between Lekkerland and the SMA-Auchan group came into effect. An agreement that is a further testament to the strength, consolidation, and vision of growth Lekkerland had. From that moment on, exactly what I had hoped for and believed in happened, we finally changed course.

Large companies have started to behave differently towards us, providing us with a much more curated and efficient service, something that to us is fundamental to have greater authority over the market: a full and varied product assortment, as well as timely deliveries.

How has the customer changed over the years?
Customers today rely increasingly on technology. We have long since equipped ourselves with tablets and order management software, but paper catalogs still carry a significant degree of importance, although certainly less so than before.

Are your customers loyal?
Yes, they are, the speed by which we respond to their requests and the support we can provide in terms of warehouse management, are all elements at the core of our customers’ loyalty. However, an element that should not be overlooked is the Fiocco points, whose utility should not be underestimated. They have aided us in having a greater turnover on lesser priority products.