Spanish retailer Dia hires BCG Spain to support digital transformation

Spanish grocery retailer Dia has hired The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to help craft its digitisation strategy. BCG will help shape Dia’s digital future with its proven expertise in online food retailing strategy.

As online shopping and e-commerce grow in popularity – even in the category of groceries – traditional food retailers are adapting themselves to the increasingly digital demands of consumers. Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods in the US and the launching of its AmazonFresh service reflect the growing trend to offer everyday grocery shopping in the online-and-delivered sphere. Brick-and-mortar retailers need to digitally adapt before it is too late, and in a well-reasoned and cost-effective manner.

Amid this environment, Spanish discount supermarket chain Dia has announced that it has hired management consultancy The Boston Consulting Group to help the company with its continuing digitisation process. BCG is a global leader in management consulting, employing over 14,000 people in 90 offices across 50 countries.

The supermarket chain will look to BCG’s proven track record in online grocery strategy in order to stay ahead of the digital curve. In a relatively similar engagement, BCG recently revamped a retailer’s online grocery strategy, creating a plan for short-term efficiency savings as well as a long-term strategy for a more profitable online model. BCG improved processes like picking, delivery, and call center operations, while developing a roadmap which included commercial models tailored to local markets, dark stores for online order fulfillment, and click-and-collect models to improve delivery.

Though the unnamed grocery retailer is still in the process of implementing BCG’s plan, it has already realised 5% efficiency gains, according to the US-consulting giant. The online unit has also, more importantly, returned to profitability.

Dia, which operates in seven countries and reported €10.3 billion in revenue in 2017, is no stranger to digitisation. The supermarket chain already collaborates with Amazon by offering Amazon Prime Now online purchase and delivery services to the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Using the Prime Now app, customers can receive Dia purchases within one or two hours at a location of their choice.

Last year, Dia also partnered with Amazon to offer Amazon Lockers at 13 of its La Plaza de Dia stores, enabling customers to pick up online orders from convenient, automatic, pin-activated lockers. With BCG’s advisory expertise, the supermarket chain will look to further enhance and improve its evolving digital strategy.

Meanwhile, earlier this year in Spain Alejandro Beltrán, managing partner of McKinsey & Company in Spain (one of BCG's main consultancy rivals globally), won a social impact award for McKinsey's Generation Spain non-profit scheme.