Itella has signed a new cooperation agreement to develop e-commerce operations with the majorFinnish retail specialist Kesko as a further step in their long-established cooperation.
The aim of Itella’s e-commerce cooperation is to use its service packages, covering bothinformation and material flows, to help Kesko’s divisions launch their online trade projects. Theagreement now signed will first be leveraged in Kesko’s home technology and sports trade.
Kesko, with about 2,000 retail stores in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia and Belarus,is strategically developing e-commerce activities. Its biggest e-commerce business is the onlinedepartment store NetAnttila with some 450,000 visitors every month in Finland. NetAntilla alsooperates in Estonia and Latvia. Kesko’s other online stores include Kodin Ykkönen, concentrating onhome goods and interior decoration, the online music store, CM-store and K-maatalous engaging inagricultural online trade.
“We are excited about this new kind of extensive e-commerce cooperation with Kesko”, saidTarja Pääkkönen, Senior Vice President of the Itella Group. “The trading sector and the developmentof its online services are important for Itella. The agreement on e-commerce cooperation now signedis a new stage for the whole sector in Finland. Online shopping is growing strongly. Its undeniablebenefits for customers are reliability and the speed and ease of shopping, because the stores areopen on 7 days a week and 24 hours a day.”
“Our aim is to offer the K-Group customers new, interesting and convenient e-commerceservices”, says Niina Ryynänen of Kesko. “The new cooperation agreement will enable us to enhanceand accelerate online store openings and thereby to generate cost benefits and more sales to bothcompanies.”
