Time is Money Convenience is King goPuff is an Urban Delight

Few if any regular readers of this blog can remember back in the day (1960) when Domino’s Pizza was founded in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  Ten years later they were growing at an unpresented rate disrupting legacy dine-in Italian and pizza outlets.  

Here we go again this time its goPuff. “In today’s world, convenience is king,” according to  gopuff.com… “You jump through enough hoops, so why not simplify and streamline where you can? At goPuff, we take convenience seriously, and for us it’s about bringing you what you need, as soon you need it, with nothing but a few taps and 30 minutes in between. With goPuff you carry a sleek and effortless convenience store, smoke shop, and mini-mart right in your pocket.”

The co-founders of goPuff Rafael Ilishayev and Yakir Gola, know that the average consumer only buy 100 ‘sku’s’ from the grocery store per year.  They understand also that you buy them over and over again.  goPuff is positioning itself not only to replace the grocery store but the convenience store visit as well according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®. 

“goPuff the new urban On-Demand Delivery service places thousands of items at your fingertips. Everything from snacks, frozen foods and household essentials, too beer, wine, energy drinks and electronic cigarettes, among other popular convenience-store merchandise.”

To date goPuff announced an additional $5 million in venture funding, led by existing investor Anthos Capital, thus closing  goPuff's Series A round total at $8.25 million, "which will propel goPuff's expansion into new markets," the company stated.

Currently goPuff service is available in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Austin, New York, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle and Chicago. They plan to add Portland, Ore., Houston, Minneapolis and Nashville, Tenn., with plans to roll out in at least seven additional cities by the end of 2016, for a total of 18 markets.

goPuff understands he need for speed, affordability, and portability as  “All of our items are sold at normal convenience-store prices. Delivery is almost (and sometimes absolutely) nothing. Orders $35+ are coming to you for free, and it’s a low flat rate of $1.95 per delivery otherwise. We say no to surge pricing,”  

For those regular readers of this blog that do remember the early days of Domino’s Pizza 99% of the industry pundits dismissed Domino’s as nothing more than a fad.  Pizza Hut refused to considered them competitor as they were the nations RED ROOF pizza industry leader.  Well market share capitulation aside Domino’s has done just fine!  Will you be dismissive of goPuff or a will you be watching success unfold?  Let us know.   

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.