The biggest players in e-grocery commerce

Chloe Riley is the Editor-in-Chief of Supermarket News, which provides the highest quality competitive business information, news and insights for executives in the retail and food industries. A graduate of Columbia College Chicago’s School of Journalism, Chloe previously served as a Digital Strategist at SEO firm Profound Strategy, Associate Editor at B2B Hospitality Magazine HOTELS Magazine, and CEO of her own digital strategy firm, Chlowe.

What does it take to be great at grocery e-commerce? While big guns like Walmart and Target are leaders in delivery and curbside pickup, other retailers, including Albertsons, Food Lion and H-E-B, are also doing well in some areas of online grocery shopping, according to the Ipsos report. Albertsons, for example, was named a “Brand to Watch” in a recent Ipsos e-commerce report that pointed to the retailer’s improvements in both delivery and curbside pickup. Albertsons was also among the top performers in multiple areas of the report, with the most significant element of the results being customers indicating they would use the retailer again.

In other news from the online grocery world, Instacart unveiled a semi-surprise partnership with Uber Eats in May. “Overall, the deal creates a new, high-margin revenue stream for Instacart, while theoretically making Uber Eats accessible to a larger customer base,” David Bishop, a partner at Brick Meets Click, told Supermarket News. So what does this partnership mean for grocers? Well, it could make more food retailers consider partnering with existing restaurant delivery networks.

Uber Eats first began offering grocery delivery in July 2020, when e-commerce grocery demand peaked in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s continued to push the service despite facing stiff competition not only from companies like Instacart and Shipt but also DoorDash, which recently reported that its grocery delivery business has doubled in the past year. Food for thought.