Giant Eagle eyes fast, accurate curbside fulfillment

A Midwest/Mid-Atlantic supermarket retailer is equipping its curbside pickup program with mobile location services.

Having seen its curbside pickup orders increase exponentially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, Giant Eagle is implementing the Radius Networks FlyBuy Pickup platform. With the FlyBuy mobile SDK directly integrated in its corporate mobile app, Giant Eagle leverages proprietary location services only related to the order experience to predict the customer’s estimated time of arrival and sends alerts to the store along the way.

This real-time information enables store associates to properly prioritize curbside order fulfillment and have an order ready as soon as a customer arrives. As a result, Giant Eagle can significantly decrease wait times and help associates work more efficiently. Giant Eagle has also converted three physical locations to curbside pickup centers dedicated to servicing online orders.

"The FlyBuy platform helps us better manage the influx of Giant Eagle curbside pickup orders being placed," said Giant Eagle VP of e-commerce operations Valery Ciarimboli. "Knowing our guests' ETA and receiving live location updates and arrival alerts has transformed our curbside program for both our associates working hard in the store fulfilling orders, and for our customers who want a speedy pickup experience. Having a system in place that enables us to ensure an order is ready and waiting when a customer pulls up is essential to our goal of meeting the increased demand with efficiency."

"In a post-COVID world, customers will continue to demand shorter wait times and a frictionless experience, which will be a necessity as curbside and BOPIS become the new normal for retailers moving forward," said Radius Networks executive VP of global partnerships Jeff Baskin.

Giant Eagle operates more than 200 supermarkets throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana.