H-E-B takes the lead on grocery e-commerce

Shoppers all across the country who long for a taste of salsa from San Antonio or tortilla chips from Dallas will love the latest news from Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B.

H-E-B, one of the nation's largest regional grocery retailers with more than 370 stores in Texas and Mexico, is making 50,000 food, drugstore and general merchandise products available to purchase and ship from its corporate website (not including fresh food such as meats and produce). The products available to order include those from H-E-B's upscale food emporium, Central Market.

Orders can be shipped throughout Texas, to 46 states within the continental U.S. and to military bases worldwide.

"We've been receiving calls for decades from Texans around the country who miss their favorite foods from home like H-E-B Texas-Shaped Corn Tortilla Chips and H-E-B Cafe Ole Taste of Texas Coffees," said Martin Otto, CMO and CFO of H-E-B. "Now, even if you move outside of Texas, you'll still have a 'neighborhood H-E-B' just a click away."

All customer orders are delivered using standard shipping and in some Texas cities may arrive the next day. Orders are shipped in one to three days and can be sent throughout Texas, to all states except California, Alaska and Hawaii, and to any Army Post Office or Fleet Post Office (APO/FPO) address in the world.Shipping fees vary and average $5 to $10 per order. Some products require a minimum order quantity, but all products are priced at the same prices in-store.

H-E-B has also created a "no hassle" return policy for online orders. Any product ordered online can be returned to any H-E-B store anywhere for an immediate full refund, or products can be sent back using free shipping.

H-E-B says it has built a warehouse dedicated to its new online business in San Antonio.

H-E-B’s decision to provide its own online delivery service, rather than turn to a third-party provider like Instacart, demonstrates the increasing pervasiveness of e-commerce and seamless commerce among retailers of all sizes in all verticals. Retailers like H-E-B may not yet be able to offer same-day delivery, but the online delivery gap is starting to close.