Walmart and HomeValet Pilot Smart Box Technology to Receive Fresh Deliveries

When Walmart launched its grocery delivery service in 2018, the company did it for one reason – customers wanted it. Since then, it’s been a lifesaver for busy families. They can simply shop their local store from anywhere and schedule a time to have it delivered right to their front door. It’s incredibly convenient.

But as Walmart's founder, Sam Walton, once said, “To succeed, stay out in front of change.” It’s why Walmart is continuously testing new technology, like drones and autonomous vehicles, to find new ways to serve customers. "Which made us think – what if we could...

FreshDirect Reveals Top Food Trends for 2021; Online Grocery and Home Cooking Boom to Continue

FreshDirect, a leading pure-play online fresh food grocer serving the Northeast, announced its top food trends for 2021. This year’s predictions were curated by FreshDirect’s in-house team of food experts. As food retailers at the forefront of the industry, FreshDirect has a unique and early view of cutting-edge grocery, ecommerce, and customer trends.

“As a leading online grocer, we have a unique and unmatched ability to understand the ever-changing buying habits of our customers. Our view on past orders, as well as those placed in the future, allows us to spot changes in trends quickly and react to them in real-time. The rapid increase in demand for online grocery and the boom in...

Instacart Announces Finance Industry Veteran Nick Giovanni is Joining the Company as CFO

Instacart, the leading online grocery platform in North America, announced it has appointed Nick Giovanni as Chief Financial Officer, effective January 27, 2021. Giovanni will oversee finance, accounting and corporate development for the Company, and will report directly to Founder and Chief Executive Officer Apoorva Mehta. Giovanni will succeed current CFO Sagar Sanghvi and the two will be partnering together to ensure a seamless transition.

"We want to thank Sagar for all of his contributions to Instacart over the last five years. During his time at the company, Sagar helped us navigate some of our biggest business milestones while...

Mercato Hires Jean-Michel Boujon as Chief Marketing Officer

Mercato, the online grocery eCommerce platform for independently owned grocery and specialty food stores, announced that it has hired Jean-Michel Boujon to be its Chief Marketing Officer. Boujon will direct all efforts associated with Mercato's brand, user acquisition, and lifecycle marketing. In addition, he will seek to advance the trend of consumers choosing to source their groceries from independent, locally-owned retailers.

"I am thrilled to announce that Jean-Michel has joined Mercato and to have him apply his talents to our company at such an important moment of our growth phase," said Bobby Brannigan, founder and CEO of Mercato. "He has a proven ability to...

Kroger Shares Top 10 Trending Foods of 2020 

The Kroger Co. announced the top 10 trending foods of 2020, as well as its food trend predictions for 2021.

Based on year-over-year sales growth across Kroger's business, including nearly 2,800 retail stores and pickup, delivery and ship, the trending foods and beverages of 2020 included:

1. Zero-Calorie Soft Drinks
2. Four-Cheese Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese
3. Flavored...

2021 Food Label Trends Deliver Safety and Security for Consumers and Retailers

As U.S. consumers turned to takeout, food delivery and online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic, food and beverage labeling took on fresh importance. Citing a 15-20% increase in grocery industry sales this year, and e-commerce sales up 43%, sustainable label leader UPM Raflatac found its grocery and restaurant delivery customers want to provide an increasingly safe experience with labels that provide visible safeguards for human health and protections for the environment.

"We knew packaging needs would change for our food industry customers given the COVID-19 shopping impact, and we are encouraged to see...

Uber Completes Acquisition of Postmates

Uber Technologies, Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of Postmates Inc. in an all-stock transaction, and that the two companies have begun the process of integrating U.S. operations.

As previously announced, the transaction brings together Uber’s global Mobility and Delivery platform with Postmates’ beloved business in the U.S. to strengthen the delivery of food, groceries, essentials, and other goods. The consumer-facing Postmates and Uber Eats apps will continue to run separately, supported by...

Retailers Prepare for Thanksgiving and Unprecedented Holiday Shopping Season 

As consumers prepare for smaller gatherings at Thanksgiving and an unusual holiday season, retailers are providing increased safety and convenience measures to offer an ideal shopping experience. 

For example, Meijer is encouraging customers to shop in whatever way fits their lives, offering delivery services and free pickup on orders over $50 online. The retailer is also adding more available time slots for pickup. Stores will be rolling out new hand sanitizer stations over the course of the holiday season and will install eight stations near high-traffic travel paths including entrances, pharmacies, produce areas, and check lanes. Meijer announced it will be extending...

Instacart and ALDI Announce New Pilot For EBT SNAP Online Payment

Instacart announced its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT SNAP) integration in partnership with ALDI. For the first time, EBT SNAP participants will be able to access fresh food and pantry staples from ALDI via Instacart's same-day delivery and pickup services. The multi-phased launch will begin in Georgia in the coming weeks across more than 60 ALDI stores, with anticipated plans to expand to more than 570 stores across Illinois, California, Florida and Pennsylvania in the coming months.

The introduction of Instacart's EBT SNAP payments comes at a time when food insecurity in the U.S. has compounded as the nation continues to be impacted by COVID-19. According to Feeding America, due to the effects of the pandemic, more than 54 million people may experience...

Instacart Appoints Two New Executives To Leadership Team

Instacart, the North American leader in online grocery delivery, today announced the addition of two new executives to its leadership team. Experienced human resources executive and people leader Christina Hall has joined Instacart as the company's first Chief Human Resources Officer. Additionally, as part of the company's continued investment in product development, Instacart has named Ariel Bardin as Senior Vice President of Product. These new leadership hires come as Instacart continues to build out its teams and scale to meet the increased consumer demand for its online grocery delivery and pickup services...

COVID-19 has Flipped the Value Proposition of Omnichannel Shopping for Constrained Consumers 

With few alternatives available during the widespread lockdowns earlier this year, e-commerce quickly became a go-to means-to-an-end for shop-needy consumers around the globe. Six months later, that early reliance on e-commerce has expanded into a fundamental dependence on still-evolving omnichannel shopping experiences.

The premise of omnichannel shopping certainly wasn’t borne out of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the global health crisis has dramatically elevated consumers’ use of both on- and offline channels in tandem, whether for click-and-collect, contactless delivery or an array of other fulfillment options. And across consumer groups, online channels have become the most critical shopping resources for...

Instacart Raises $200 Million in New Funding as Grocery Delivery, Pickup Booms During Pandemic

Grocery delivery service Instacart announced it has raised $200 million in funding led by existing investors Valiant Peregrine Fund and D1 Capital Partners.

2020 has been a strong year for the company, which has seen its valuation more than double since the year began as consumers have pivoted to online grocery shopping during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNBC, the company’s valuation jumped to $17.7 billion following the funding round, up from $7.9 billion when 2020 began. Instacart is now...

Kroger Testing Ghost Kitchens in Pair of Midwest Stores

Through a partnership with ghost kitchen start-up ClusterTruck, top U.S. retailer Kroger will debut a pair of delivery and pickup-only kitchens in two of its Kroger stores in Indianapolis, Indiana and Columbus, Ohio.

Kroger said it the kitchens will provide a variety of freshly prepared meals on-demand with no service or delivery fees.

The decision to create the on-site kitchens stems from a pilot launched in December of 2019 in Carmel, Indiana and the aforementioned cities. Still, the pilot was an off-premises concept, the new kitchens will be about 1,000 square feet of culinary space...

Walmart Now Piloting On-Demand Drone Delivery

Walmart's latest initiative has the company exploring how drones can deliver items in a way that is convenient, safe, and fast. Walmart is taking the next step in the exploration of on-demand delivery by announcing a new pilot with Flytrex, an end-to-end drone delivery company.

The pilot is launching in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and focuses on delivering select grocery and household essential items from Walmart stores using Flytrex's automated drones. The drones, which are controlled over the cloud using a smart and easy control dashboard, will help...

Retailer Introduces ‘Dark Store’ Focusing Solely on Online Grocery Shopping

Whole Foods is launching its first ‘dark store’ a facility that will solely operate to fulfill the Amazon-owned grocer’s online orders.

The store will not be open to the public, so customers cannot stroll in like a traditional grocery store. This new experiment follows the COVID-19 pandemic where online grocery ordering witnessed a significant uptick as customers were unwilling to risk a trip to pick up food.

According to USA TODAY, the new concept was in the works pre-COVID...

Kroger Ship to Integrate a Marketplace this Fall

The Kroger Co. announced Kroger Ship will expand to offer an extended ship-to-home assortment through a marketplace offering of third-party sellers powered by Mirakl, the leading software platform enabling B2C and B2B digital marketplaces.

"Our customers are increasingly turning to our e-commerce solutions provided at Kroger.com for their grocery and household essential needs. To better serve our customers, we're continuing to invest in technology that enables us to expand our digital services to deliver anything, anytime, anywhere," said Jody Kalmbach, Kroger's group vice president of product experience. "Leveraging Mirakl's best-in-class marketplace solution, we are...

Target Enhances Online Grocery Pickup Service

Target’s making it easier than ever for consumers to get what they need to enjoy the season. Starting this week, consumers can shop fresh and frozen grocery items via Target's Order Pickup and Drive Up services at more than 400 stores.

“When it comes to safe, fast and easy shopping, Target leads the way,” says Dawn Block, senior vice president, digital, Target. “By expanding our Order Pickup and Drive Up assortment to include fresh and frozen grocery items, we’re making the Target Run even easier—ensuring that guests can get everything they need, using the fast, convenient services they already love.”

Select stores in Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, Utah, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky and Kansas now offer the enhanced service, where guests can shop 750 items across...

Uber Unveils Grocery Delivery

Uber Technologies, Inc. announced that users in select Latin American and Canadian cities can now order groceries through the Uber and Uber Eats apps, in partnership with Cornershop, the popular grocery delivery startup based in Santiago, Chile. This follows the companies’ 2019 agreement for Uber to acquire a majority stake in Cornershop, which is expected to close in the coming days. Today’s news marks Uber and Cornershop’s first integrated grocery delivery experience.

Uber connects people and communities with the tap of a button, including rides, prepared food, retail goods—and now groceries. Starting today, shoppers in select cities in Latin America, Canada and coming later this month, the United States, can find grocery delivery opportunities through both Uber and Uber Eats apps, furthering Uber’s vision of bringing people closer to...

Has the Coronavirus Caused Consumers to Adopt New Eating Behaviors? 

Although social distancing measures have forced many people to stay indoors and start experimenting in the kitchen, the verdict is mixed on home cooking. According to Datassential, two in five consumers did not actually start cooking more often. However, about 35% found joy and excitement in discovering new dishes, yet more than a third of Gen X and households with children are sick of having to cook more often for their families.

For the most part, the pandemic has encouraged very few consumers to adopt new shopping and dining strategies, the rest are maintaining their prior routines. Online grocery shopping and grocery delivery have benefited the most from these new trials, with 21% trying grocery pickup for the first time, and...

Walmart Introduces Express Delivery

Walmart is announcing Express Delivery, a new service that delivers more items from the store than ever before to customers’ doors in less than two hours.

Walmart has accelerated the development of the service in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, piloting Express Delivery in 100 stores since mid-April. The service will expand to nearly 1,000 stores in early May and will be available in nearly 2,000 total stores in the following weeks. Express Delivery allows customers to order across more than 160,000 items from Walmart’s food, consumables and general merchandise assortment such as... 

Mintel: UK Online Grocery will Grow by Around 33% in 2020

The latest research from Mintel reveals the online grocery market is forecast to grow by 33% in 2020 to reach an estimated value of £16.8 billion, up from £12.7 billion in 2019. This phenomenal rise follows four consecutive years of slowing growth: in 2019 growth fell to a historic low of just 2.9%. The market is set to be worth £17.9 billion by 2024, growing by 41% over the five year period.

Online shopping behaviour as a whole

This comes as Mintel reveals a dramatic change in online shopping habits over the COVID-19 lockdown period, habits that Mintel believes could prove lasting. In the very early days of the spread of the coronavirus in the UK, before social distancing measures were announced, 7% of Brits...

Instacart Launches New Customer Product Features as Demand for Online Grocery Surges

Instacart announced the launch of two new product features designed to speed up service and unlock more delivery windows as demand for grocery delivery continues to surge in North America. The new features - "Fast & Flexible" and "Order Ahead" - which the company has been testing over the last few weeks, increase delivery availability for customers across North America and provide more choice and convenience for customers who are moving their weekly grocery shop online.

Instacart has become an essential service for millions of people in the U.S. and Canada who are depending on the platform to safely, reliably and affordably get the groceries and household goods they need. Last week, the company saw overall customer order volume up by more than...

Survey: Coronavirus Transforms Americans' Grocery & Cooking Habits

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on Americans' grocery shopping and cooking habits, according to a March 23 survey of more than 3,000 consumers by meal planning service eMeals. Shoppers were unable to find 40% of the grocery items on their shopping list as the gravity of the COVID-19 outbreak sent them flocking to grocery stores to stock up on food from March 18-23. Respondents also reported a 55% increase in weekly shopping spend, cooking dinner at home six nights a week, and surging online grocery use that has caused fulfillment delays because of the high demand.

"Shopping and cooking habits have clearly been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Short supplies at grocery stores, restaurant closings, and the need to...

Coronavirus Cases Continue to Impact Foodservice and Retail 

Cases of COVID-19 are continuing to surface as the virus spreads and more tests become available. States across the country are still enforcing restrictions and guidelines, encouraging people to social distance.

Retailers have gone from limiting hours to closing completely until further notice. Grocery stores are struggling to keep shelves stocked as consumers continue to panic buy and stockpile essentials. Amid all the hysteria, restaurants are creatively finding new ways to serve guests and generate income.

As of March 18th, the National Restaurant Association predicts that the foodservice industry could lose up to $225 billion and 7 million jobs. Mandatory restaurant closures have caused...

Instacart Announces Plans to Bring on 300,000 New Personal Shoppers Over the Next 3 Months

Instacart announced plans to bring on an additional 300,000 full-service shoppers over the next 3 months to meet the growing customer demand for grocery delivery and pickup in North America. Instacart has become an essential service for millions of customers who are relying on the platform to get access to the groceries and household goods they need in a safe, reliable and affordable way.

In the last few weeks, the company has seen order volume grow by more than 150% year-over-year, with average customer basket size also increasing by 15%. By more than doubling the size of its full-service shopper community, Instacart will be better positioned to meet this increase in...

Research and Markets: Global Online Grocery Market Outlook

Despite the origins in the late 1990s by Tesco, despite Ocado, despite Peapod, despite Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods, despite Walmart's investments, despite the French drives pioneered by Chronodrive (Auchan) online grocery has still not been solved.

So where is online grocery going?

Grocery stores are more and more seeing a transformation towards becoming hybrids for pick up/delivery and shopping and often foodservice too. Especially players such as Freshippo or JD.com stores in Asia have been at the forefront of this development, but this is not really groundbreakingly new for the West either. In the US all the major grocers are rolling out... 

Walmart Adds Grocery to Flagship App

For years, Walmart has had two mobile apps: the Walmart app and the Walmart Grocery app. Customers navigate both apps, but would like an easier way to shop without having to switch between the two. 

The company is excited to announce its adding Walmart Grocery to the flagship Walmart app. Now, customers can access everything Walmart has to offer in one, definitive experience – the Walmart app.

Here’s what the updated Walmart app offers...