Empire Company Limited is ramping up operations of its Quebec grocery home delivery service, following the launch of Voilà par IGA on March 7.
Once complete, it will service more than 100 municipalities from Gatineau to Montreal to Quebec City.
Voilà par IGA replaces the existing IGA.net service in Quebec, and Empire says it will provide customers with an upgraded online ordering and home delivery experience. Customers will now have many more one-hour delivery windows to choose from, seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. They will also have 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 products from IGA, Ricardo, Rachelle Béry, Kim Phat and more. and 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 Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) in Pointe-Claire, Que. Teammates and robots assemble orders with minimal product handling, while Voilà teammates 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,” says 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 its first CFC in the Greater Toronto Area launched in June 2020. Empire plans to launch a third CFC in Calgary in 2023, and a fourth in B.C. in 2025.
