Ultrafast Grocery Delivery Shifts How People Think About Shopping for Everyday Essentials

In certain American cities, the time between craving a bag of pretzels or bottle of Gatorade while lounging on the couch and having the items appear at the front door has never been shorter. Ultrafast grocery delivery startups such as 1520, Jokr and Gopuff—which is currently valued at $15 billion—are making the idea of instant gratification through ecommerce impulse buying a reality by distributing the goods within mere minutes. If the activity proves sustainable long term, marketers will have new channels to reach consumers at the point of purchase, while grocers and corner stores may have to rethink the shopping experience. Ken Fenyo, president of research and advisory at Coresight Research, a global firm focused on retail and technology, noted the emerging industry has an opportunity to build upon its current momentum by altering consumer behavior. In the near future, Fenyo said, people could shift from making big trips to stock their entire kitchen to "ordering a lot more in real time." From indulgence to expectation A recent out-of-home campaign in New York from Gopuff, for example, features images of Tide, Lay's and Mountain Dew products next to a line of text stating, "Order in seconds, delivered in minutes." "We can have your missing ingredient delivered before you’re finished making the recipe, or get the chips and drinks you want to take to the party to you before you’re ready to leave the house," said Tyler Trerotola, Jokr's U.S. co-founder. Likewise, 7-Eleven debuted a TV spot in April promoting its 7NOW delivery app, which launched in 2018. The commercial suggests it's just as easy to get taquitos and a Slurpee delivered at 3 a.m. as it is to stream a show on HBO Max. 7-Eleven’s delivery business increased 500% in 2020 compared to the year prior, according to the company. It now hopes to expand even more, thanks to a new partnership with alcohol delivery service Drizly, which operates in 1,600 cities across 33 U.S. states and was acquired by Uber for $1.1 billion earlier this year. "Convenience undeniably plays a huge role in why people order from Drizly," said Cathy Lewenberg, the company's COO. "We know from our data and consumer insights that this is a core reason customers try and continue to shop at Drizly." The very idea behind the company name 1520, which provides local supermarket items to people in Chicago and New York, is meant to imply it can deliver groceries within 15-20 minutes. Its average delivery time, according to the company, is 14 minutes. "Our service is providing a solution to busy lifestyles, and the busier people get post-pandemic, the more demand there will be for our service," said Oleg Shevlyagin, 1520's founder. Online Groceries Remain Popular Although demand has begun to slow, figures from data analytics firm Earnest Research, which tracks credit and debit card transactions, show U.S. adults are spending more on online groceries following the Covid-19 outbreak. During the second quarter of 2021, for instance, shoppers spent 139% more on online groceries compared to the second quarter of 2019. Potential roadblocks Still, hurdles remain. In-store visits to convenience stores such as Wawa, Speedway and 7-Eleven declined during the pandemic, but the trend is reversing as life in America inches back to what it was pre-quarantine, according to figures from Placer.ai, a data analytics firm that tracks foot traffic. “The convenience store category is seeing a significant uptick in visits as the wider retail recovery continues,” said Ethan Chernofsky, Placer.ai’s vp of marketing. At the same time, quick grocery delivery services seem more geared toward urban centers. Plus, supply chain issues might muck things up. The rise in prices for everyday items due to inflation poses yet another obstacle. "People do like things faster," Fenyo said. "I think the challenge is they don't really want to pay for it." Looking ahead, though, there's reason to believe people will continue to buy milk, bread and produce through the web. The majority of online grocery shoppers (64%) intend to continue doing so at their current spending level next year, while nearly one-quarter (23%) plan to buy even more, according to the sales and marketing agency Acosta. Super speedy delivery services, of course, hope to capture some of this spend. As Daniel Folkman, svp of business at Gopuff, put it: "What may feel like an indulgence today is very quickly becoming the expectation and way of life for consumers around the world."