International supermarket chain Billa has chosen P3 Prague Horní Počernice as the ideal location to launch its new e-shop for food and groceries, in a move which cements the status of the industrial park as a leading centre for e-commerce in the Czech capital city and beyond.
Located in northwestern Prague, P3 Prague Horní Počernice is the largest logistics complex in the city and is now the site from which Billa distributes food and groceries which customers order online. The retailer joins e-commerce companies already present at P3 Prague Horní Počernice, including Rohlik and Košík.
Welcoming Billa’s arrival, Jan Andrus, Head of Leasing P3 Czech Republic said: “The reach of the highway, city ring road and other road connections to the centre of Prague is an ideal constellation for city logistics and especially food supply, for which time is a decisive factor in customer satisfaction. This is confirmed by the selection of the three most important online food e-shops, which specialize in delivering food, drinks and other household products directly to customers. In this way, our logistics park in Horní Počernice confirms its unique role as a full-fledged part of Prague’s infrastructure.”
BILLA has decades of experience in food retail and logistics. However, starting an e-shop is something quite different from the point of view of the operation of a logistics center. This is why the company devoted extraordinary care to the project, which was almost two years in the making.
BILLA has opened a hall with an area of over 10,000 m2 at P3 Prague Horní Počernice. The free-standing hall offers the possibility of loading and unloading goods from two sides, with large adjacent parking areas for cars, vans and trucks. The loading gates are connected by a covered exterior area of almost 700 m2, which facilitates the handling of goods in any type of weather.
Petr Toupal, Head of e-commerce BILLA said: ‘‘Our warehouse is double-sided and the internal layout is built in a flow-like manner. On one side there is inbound, where order fulfillment takes place along with other logistics processes inside the warehouse. On the opposite side, completed purchases leave the warehouse premises. This layout perfectly suits our type of logistics and is based on proven principles; testing so far shows us that it is a step in the right direction. We also used knowledge from German and Austrian colleagues at the REWE parent group, who have been providing online services for several years. We have the technology custom-made for us so we can deliver high-volume purchases to customers with high efficiency. We invest tens of millions of euros in technology every year, of which is currently directed towards software solutions and semi-automation planned for next year.”
In the pilot phase of operations at P3 Prague Horní Počernice, BILLA delivered 28,643 orders, and in the first month of operation, distributed hundreds of shipments per day. BILLA currently offers its e-shop to customers in Prague, Mladá Boleslav, and also Brno and the surrounding area. By the end of 2025, it hopes to expand the operation to the entire country and become the second strongest player in online food sales in the Czech Republic.
E-commerce at P3 Prague Horní Počernice
Current market leader Rohlík started delivering purchases to its customers from P3’s park from Horní Počernice more than two years ago. The company served its growing number of customers by dividing operations between two centres and, next to the original distribution center on the western edge of Prague, Rohlík chose a 12,000 m2 hall in the northeast of the metropolis. Processes are largely automated, following significant investment in technology.
Among the 10 largest e-shops1 is another online food retailer, Košík, which rents a 12,000 m2 hall P3 Prague Horní Počernice.
Tomáš Morava, Operations Director of Košík.cz, said: ‘‘In the long term, we rely on fast and accurate delivery, as well as the flawless quality of our purchases. The distribution center is therefore a key element of our entire service; every day, hundreds of couriers depart from it with perfectly prepared fresh purchases, who must be able to deliver even to more distant areas within Central Bohemia. We have built a distribution center here with a usable area of 16,000 m2, which we are constantly improving. Most recently, we opened Dr.Max pharmacy which uses automation in its operations. We are currently finishing preparations for the Christmas season, and Košík would like to surpass previous years’ performances again. Therefore, we have prepared automatic weighing of purchases on the centre’s surface, which will help us identify when items could be missing or have been packed in error. This change increased the capacity of our operation by 15%.”
In addition to online food shopping, P3 Prague Horní Počernice is also a base for other important e-commerce businesses, such as number one online retailer Alza, which also operates a showroom. Medicine orders from Pilulka.cz, and shoes from Footshop are also distributed from P3’s commercial and industrial park in Horní Počernice. With its area of 40 hectares, it belongs to the largest and most modern parks in the Czech Republic.
“We have gradually created an interesting ecosystem here, where logistics and production, e-shops and retail with showrooms and dispensaries, operate side by side,” added Jan Andrus.
Thanks to its excellent location between the D10 and the Prague ring road, P3 Horní Počernice is popular with e-commerce companies, while the good accessibility of public transport also benefits manufacturing companies that rely on good accessibility for employees. The nearby shopping center on Černý Most increases the attractiveness of the park for companies from the retail sector, many of which have also set up their showrooms at the park. The largest tenants are the companies Alimpex Food, Alza, MailStep, Footshop, HP Tronic, IKEA, Sécheron Tchequie, Petcenter, PNS and Wavin Ekoplastik.
