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The Friday Checkout is a weekly column that gives you deeper insights into the news, summarizes announcements you may have missed, and alerts you to upcoming news.
Even though grocery retailers are now more adept at e-commerce, they are still not dependent on third-party e-commerce providers – on the contrary, cooperation is becoming ever closer.
In their second-quarter results released in early August, DoorDash and Uber executives told investors they are expanding their food businesses. Uber CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah told investors that 15% of Uber Eats customers shop in the food space.
The question of whether grocers want to move from third-party marketplaces to white-label or in-house e-commerce solutions has been at the forefront since the pandemic-driven e-commerce boom. But in a stabilizing online shopping environment, third-party marketplaces are proving invaluable to grocers large and small.
DoorDash CEO Tony Xu told investors that large companies are “trying to tap into a very valuable customer base, many of whom come to us for grocery shopping and these new industries.”
“Most retailers cannot match our pace of innovation on their own, so by integrating with us, they get continuous improvements that drive growth with minimal cost and effort,” Instacart CEO Fidji Simo told investors.
Marketplaces are leveraging their scale to become massive retail media giants. Instacart, for example, is developing its online and in-store solutions for retailers that plug into its omnichannel retail media network. At Uber, grocery and retail ad spend has more than tripled year over year, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted.
Marketplaces are also addressing the challenges of e-grocery affordability. Recent advertising campaigns by Instacart have helped grocers a slight increase in delivery sales between the first and second quarters of this year, according to the latest report from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus.
While grocers would likely like to have complete control over e-commerce order fulfillment and customer data, supermarkets are likely to maintain their presence on marketplaces due to the innovative solutions and additional revenues these third parties provide.
In case you missed it
Kroger will not achieve anything with lawsuit over “fresh eggs from the farm”
A U.S. district judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Kroger misled consumers by using the “Farm Fresh” label to identify eggs that came from hens raised in cages on industrial farms. Reuters reported.
Judge Charles Kocoras said reasonable buyers would not agree with the plaintiff’s claim that “farm fresh” necessarily means the chickens “live on farms with open green spaces, grass, hay and straw,” the release said.
A flash food bag.
Courtesy of Flashfood
Earth Fare cooperates with Flashfood
The specialty retailer posted on LinkedIn On Wednesday, the company announced it had partnered with the food waste technology company in select stores. Flashfood’s app offers heavily discounted food items that are close to their expiration date.
Raley’s introduces discount program for veterans and first responders
The chain announced on Tuesday The new program offers 10% off the first Tuesday of every month and on certain holidays throughout the year for military members and first responders. Retired and active duty military members, first responders and their families can take advantage of the discount program for in-store and online purchases.
Walmart’s InHome delivery service allows customers to order groceries for delivery, which are then delivered to their homes or garages.
Courtesy of myQ Smart Technology
Number of the week: 37%
This is the Percent of the US online grocery market According to Brick Meets Click and Mercatus, Walmart hit a record high for the retailer in the second quarter of 2024.
What’s next?
Income galore
Both SpartanNash and Walmart will hold their second-quarter earnings conference calls on Thursday.
Inflation figures due
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release consumer price index data for July on Wednesday.
Current retail sales
The U.S. Census Bureau is expected to release retail sales for last month on Thursday.
Finding inspiration
In recent years, grocery retailers have taken additional precautions to reduce theft and shrinkage in their stores – but they have not created a system to prevent “seagull thefts.”
Noah Karberg of Nantucket, Massachusetts, is offering a reward for the return of his wallet after it was stolen by a seagull outside his local Stop & Shop. UPI reported. Karberg told NBC Boston He left his phone and wallet in the tray on his shopping cart while he loaded groceries into his truck: “I put the last few bags in the back seat, come back to the cart, and there’s a seagull sitting on the cart, right in front of me, grabs my wallet and flies away!”
Karberg took video of the flying culprit as it flew onto the roof of a nearby car wash and watched as the seagull began rummaging through the wallet’s contents, UPI reported. Karberg could do nothing but watch as his cash flew away in the wind.
“It was like a seagull with an agenda,” he told NBC Boston. “It threw the money away and went straight to my Amex.”
