The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Not so long ago, industry experts were sounding off about the need for grocers to own more of their e-commerce experience and fulfillment. By relying heavily on third-party firms like Instacart, they said, retailers were losing valuable customer data, diluting their brands and paying hefty fees for unprofitable online sales. Companies needed to become less dependent on large tech firms, these experts noted.
Fast forward to today, and third-party apps like Instacart, DoorDash and Uber are continuing to make inroads with grocers. In the past week or so, we’ve seen two major deals: Aldi announced it would offer delivery through Uber, and days later, Kroger detailed an expanded tie-up with DoorDash for delivery from more than 2,700 stores.
This growth reflects a couple e-commerce realities that both grocers and delivery firms have accepted. First, retailers need to outsource delivery because it’s too expensive for them to handle on their own. And second, retailers have no issue with relying on multiple apps to maximize their reach with customers.
While the likes of Uber and DoorDash continue to expand their supermarket delivery empires, grocers aren’t letting those firms be the face of their digital operations. Many retailers offer delivery ordering through their own websites and apps, and some use their own workers to pick and pack orders before handing them off to delivery drivers in order to maintain quality control. Grocers like Lowes Foods run their own branded pickup services, and see it as a way to maintain shopper loyalty.
Delivery firms, meanwhile, are trying to get an even bigger slice of grocers’ tech spending by expanding their services. Instacart now offers a suite of “connected store” technologies, while DoorDash has started offering its DashMart delivery sites as fulfillment centers for retailers. During a presentation at Groceryshop, Uber’s Head of Delivery, Susan Anderson, said the company can work with grocers to provide customers with ride vouchers to their stores.
Kroger, which is stumbling in its quest to build its own delivery service, has further embraced its DoorDash partnership by signing up for DashMart fulfillment as well as nationwide store-based delivery. It’s a sign as clear as any that for third-party delivery companies, the party is still going strong.
In case you missed it
Sam’s Club serves up store brand sushi
The Walmart-owned club retailer announced Monday that sushi is now part of its Member’s Mark private label brand. The store brand sushi is made in-house daily by trained chefs who customize dishes to regional tastes. This includes jalapeño tuna rolls in Texas, mango-forward flavors in Puerto Rico and poke-style offerings in Hawaii.
Previously on the hit drama Market Basket…
The beloved New England grocer may have ousted its CEO and other top executives, but the plot continues to thicken.
The former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas filed a lawsuit on Wednesday that claims he was wrongfully terminated. Demoulas aims to get his job back as president and chief executive, The Boston Globe reported.
Market Basket’s board issued a response on Wednesday restating its position that Demoulas was fired for withholding information and being uncooperative. “The Board has exercised its independent business judgment in dealing with Mr. Demoulas and is not beholden to anyone,” it stated.
Ask Shipt
Shipt announced Thursday a partnership with Perplexity, an AI software company, to make its online ordering and delivery service available on the tech firm’s newly launched browser, Comet.
Through Comet, Shipt shoppers will be able to access a chat-to-cart feature that uses AI to power product discovery and curate carts with product recommendations.
Impulse find
A bear runs into a grocery store…
It appears an Arizona bear got jealous of all the attention the carnivores of Fat Bear Week in Alaska were getting, so it decided to create a viral moment of its own by entering a local grocery store.
The bear was spotted lurking around a Fry’s store in southern Arizona last weekend and then again on Monday before finally working up the courage to go inside, AP News reported.
Once inside, the bear “just ran around,” a spokesperson for the Oro Valley Police Department told AP News.
Aside from running in the store and startling shoppers, the bear was very polite — stealing no food and causing no damage.
@nbcnews A #bear surprised shoppers as it ran through the aisles of a supermarket in #Arizona ♬ original sound - nbcnews
