e-commerce grocery

DoorDash to deliver for customers of food tech startup eGrowcery

DoorDash will now deliver groceries for customers of food retail e-commerce platform eGrowcery

Food delivery apps are hungry. After building themselves up as the go-to options for restaurant delivery, brands like Uber Eats and Grubhub are now looking to grocery as the next delivery frontier. 

Uber Eats (NYSE: UBER) kicked off its campaign last June through a partnership with Albertsons Cos. that brought same-day grocery delivery to 400 U.S. cities, while Grubhub (OCTUS: JTKWY) started its own grocery vertical in February via partnerships with 7-Eleven and ultrafast delivery startup Buyk.

No...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/doordash-to-deliver-for-customers-of-food-tech-startup-egrowcery

Berkshire Grey, Swisslog combine forces on fulfillment automation

Berkshire Grey and Swisslog announced a global partnership on Tuesday that will see the two robotic companies work collaboratively to accelerate deployment of warehouse automation technologies.

The alliance will focus initially on the U.S. market and target grocery, e-grocery, e-commerce and retail customers. The AI-powered automation solutions will assist with real-time order fulfillment. Swisslog will become part of Berkshire Grey’s Partner Alliance program as a strategic Systems Integration...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/berkshire-grey-swisslog-combine-forces-on-fulfillment-automation

Online grocery platform Misfits Market nabs $225 million Series C-1

Misfits Market gets new Series C-1 funding round of $200 million, raises valuation to $2 billion

During online grocery’s brief history in the marketplace, three power players have emerged. Walmart, Instacart and Uber, a trio of well-established companies with dedicated user bases, are currently leading the race, but as the grocery delivery wars heat up, there’s a fourth player that looks ready to throw its hat into the ring.

Online grocery platform Misfits Market on Tuesday announced that it had closed a $225 million Series C-1 funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to $526.5...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/online-grocery-platform-misfits-market-nabs-225-million-series-c-1

Point Pickup Technologies acquires e-commerce tech platform GrocerKey

Same-day delivery firm Point Pickup Technologies has acquired GrocerKey, a white label e-commerce technology platform. Point Pickup expects the acquisition to provide it an end-to-end e-commerce platform, from pick-and-pack to last-mile delivery.

Terms were not disclosed.

“With almost 68 million U.S. households placing online orders this past May, retailers no longer want to give away the last mile to other consumer-facing platforms,” explained Tom Fiorita, founder and CEO of Point Pickup...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/point-pickup-technologies-acquires-e-commerce-tech-platform-grocerkey

Walmart reigns in grocery delivery wars, but Instacart is pushing hard

Walmart leads Instacart in online grocery delivery sales

January was the peak sales month for online grocery sales, reaching $9.3 billion during the month, according to a Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey conducted Jan. 28-31. Sales in February started to fall, dropping 14% to $8 billion, and have remained on a slow decline since, as more Americans began leaving their homes. Sales fell 24% from January through June, according to Bloomberg Second Measure.

But for some companies, online grocery sales and delivery remain red-hot, and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/walmart-reigns-in-grocery-delivery-wars-but-instacart-is-pushing-hard

Instacart to build warehouses in partnership with retailers

Instacart is moving beyond the store with plans to open robotic fulfillment centers for grocers to handle online orders. The grocery delivery company has announced that Fabric will provide the software and robotics for the facilities, which will start rolling out over the next 12 months, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“With the rapid adoption of online grocery shopping that’s taken place over the last year, the grocery industry has experienced an accelerated transformation that’s required...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/instacart-to-build-warehouses-in-partnership-with-retailers

Centralized buying at Whole Foods goes directly against its ethos

This is an excerpt from Monday’s (5/27) Point of Sale retail supply chain newsletter sponsored by ArcBest.

It’s been nearly four years since Amazon acquired Whole Foods. When the deal was announced, the fear was that in its quest for retail domination, Amazon would strip out everything that made the Austin, Texas-based natural foods pioneer so special, turning its ~500 stores into little more than mini-fulfillment centers for Amazon grocery. While many of the worst fears haven’t come to pass,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/centralized-buying-at-whole-foods-goes-directly-against-its-ethos

Name That Tune: The ‘unsustainable’ grocery delivery wars

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.

The promise of home delivery in just 15 minutes is the latest bid to win the “grocery wars,” according to recent industry trade press. There is the occasional need for speedy delivery. Just how speedy is necessary, how frequently is it needed, and how much are consumers willing to pay for it?

The competition to win more grocery customers with fast home delivery...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/name-that-tune-the-unsustainable-grocery-delivery-wars

+ More