Dive Brief:

• Schnuck Markets has started offering 30-minute delivery on a range of convenience items in partnership with Instacart, the Midwestern grocer announced Monday.
• The service, known as “Schnucks Now,” is available in all markets the St. Louis-based supermarket chain serves across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
• Schnucks’ decision to add the delivery tier follows other moves the grocer has made this year as it looks to cater to convenience-focused shoppers online and in its stores.

Dive Insight:

Schnucks’ new delivery service offers high-speed fulfillment of orders for products including fresh groceries, pantry items, alcohol, snacks and meals. Customers can place orders through the Schnucks Rewards App and Instacart’s Convenience Hub.

While Schnucks said shoppers will pay unspecified “lower delivery fees” and not be subject to priority fees, the retailer also said the offering does carry service charges. In addition, Schnucks Now customers may see prices that vary from what Schnucks charges in its stores, and will not have access to in-store coupons, sales and promotions, the retailer noted in the announcement. 

Schnucks added that the service is available only during regular store operating hours and carries a $10 minimum purchase requirement.

Schnucks follows several other food retailers in launching service through Instacart’s convenience-delivery platform, which was launched in September 2021 in a joint announcement with Kroger. Publix, The Giant Company and Stop & Shop also added the service last year.

Meanwhile Albertsons, in February, became the first grocer to offer 30-minute delivery in conjunction with DoorDash.

Schnucks also offers delivery of prepared foods in 30 minutes or less to shoppers at certain stores through a partnership with DoorDash. The grocer said in July that it had expanded that arrangement, which initially included five stores, to 25 of its 112 locations.

Schucks has also been experimenting with new brick-and-mortar store formats. In July, the grocer opened an 11,000-square-foot express store stocked with traditional grocery items in the same building where its Eatwell speciality store in Columbia, Missouri, is located.