Grocery Outlet debuts online with on-demand delivery
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. is entering the e-commerce channel for the first time with a new Instacart partnership.
The discount grocer, which offers name-brand products at prices generally 40% to 70% below those of conventional grocery retailers, is launching a six-month online delivery pilot. The pilot will make daily essential and staple products from 68 of Grocery Outlet’s independently owned and operated stores across California available for same-day online delivery via Instacart.
Customers will be able to place online delivery orders from participating stores via a dedicated Grocery Outlet storefront on the Instacart website and mobile app. According to Grocery Outlet, the Instacart digital storefronts will maintain its in-store “treasure hunt” experience. For all orders, an Instacart shopper will pick and deliver within the customer’s chosen delivery time frame.
Grocery Outlet is branching into e-commerce as the company undergoes general growth. The retailer recently opened its 400th store, in Hailey, Idaho, just south of the Sun Valley ski resort and east of Boise. The new location continues Grocery Outlet’s annual new store growth of approximately 10%. The company on track to open 36 to 38 stores this year.
Calling itself the “leading extreme-value retailer in the United States,” Grocery Outlet is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2021. The company is also celebrating its second anniversary as a public company. It joined Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “GO” on June 20, 2019.
“The pandemic has changed the retail experience and how people shop—advancing e-commerce by a decade in just a year and a half,” said Grocery Outlet CEO Eric Lindberg. “We think it’s important to make our great-value products available across another platform and to a greater audience, introducing Grocery Outlet to customers who may not have shopped with us before. Consumers are telling us that convenience is more important than ever—and we are listening. We’re using this program with Instacart to continue expanding the strong foundation of touching lives for the better that Grocery Outlet was built upon 75 years ago.”
“For 75 years, customers have relied on Grocery Outlet to feed their families, and we’re proud to now partner with them to bring their incredible brand online for the first time ever. Customers can now have Grocery Outlet’s unparalleled selection of affordable groceries and pantry staples delivered from the store to their door in as fast as an hour,” said Carolyn Everson, president, Instacart. “We’re proud to unlock this new e-commerce solution for Grocery Outlet and create even more ways for their customers to save no matter how they choose to shop.”
Based in Emeryville, Calif., Grocery Outlet has more than 400 stores in California, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Nevada. San Francisco-based Instacart has partnered with more than 600 national, regional and local retailers to deliver from nearly 55,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. Instacart's platform is available to over 85% of U.S. households.