SpartanNash offers independent grocers new fulfillment platform
A grocery retailer/distributor is expanding and easing access to its food selection for its independent grocer customers.
SpartanNash is collaborating with hosted food distribution provider Specialty Food Partners to offer a new hosted online platform called SpartanNash SpecialtyDirect. The platform enables the company’s 2,100 independent grocer customers to seamlessly browse thousands of newly available product options, place orders, and pay consolidated invoices.
The company worked with Specialty Food Partners to update its back-end system to ensure it could deliver a seamless fulfillment platform, including proper invoice flow, easy ordering, and clearly communicated deliveries. SpartanNash SpecialtyDirect is designed to make SpartanNash-supported independent grocery customers more competitive by increasing access to specialty, seasonal, and local items so they can tailor their product assortment to local shopper preferences.
SpartanNash expands mobile food waste reduction pilot
SpartanNash is launching the SpecialtyDirect platform on the heels of the company’s expansion of its its rollout of the Flashfood app to 44 Family Fare and VG’s Grocery store locations throughout Michigan, Iowa, and Nebraska. The Flashfood app enables shoppers to browse deals on fresh items such as meat, produce boxes, dairy, and bakery items, as well as center-store foods and snacks, that are nearing their best-by dates. Discounted purchases are made directly through the app, then customers pick up their order from the “Flashfood zone” located inside a nearby participating SpartanNash store.
“It’s our promise to continue bringing the best innovation for our customers as shopping habits evolve,” said SpartanNash senior VP and chief merchandising officer Bennett Morgan. “We’re here to ensure independent grocers have everything they need to respond to their customers’ tastes and preferences, without taking away from their valuable time spent managing their grocery stores, servicing their shoppers and supporting their in-store team members. As a customer-focused food solutions company, this is just another distribution benefit we can offer our independent customers to deliver on the ingredients for a better life.”
“There is a misconception that only large metro areas have the need for trending and specialty grocery products, but that is definitely not the case and has really shifted over the last few years, resulting in broader demand for these products,” said Tony Lee, founder and CEO of Specialty Food Partners. “SpartanNash is an ideal partner for us because the company’s expansive distribution network to many independent grocery stores across America’s heartland means shoppers don’t have to live in a major city to satisfy their newest flavor exploration or try the latest startup brand.”
The core businesses of SpartanNash include distributing grocery products to independent and chain retailers, its corporate-owned retail stores, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges. The company also operates a fresh produce distribution network and the Our Family brand. SpartanNash serves customer locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Djibouti. The company owns 145 supermarkets—primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin's Super Markets, D&W Fresh Market, VG's Grocery, and Dan's Supermarket.