Older and Wiser than Competitors Peapod is Pushing Price

Since our blog in March about Peapod was a big hit with the second most views of the month we saw this article by Jon Springer and will share some of it with you. As most of you know Jon works at Winsight LLC and understands the undercurrents within the grocerant niche better than most according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® Tacoma WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Peapod is probably the best grocery delivery service today in the US according to the team at Foodservice Solutions®.  That does not mean they can be complacent as many of the new delivery entrants have discounted pricing to garner market share Peapod has done delivered quality and consistency over time that still provide them an edge according to Johnson.

Nevertheless PRICE maters and customers will migrated to a lower price competitor.  So Peapod wants to drive incremental sales and will leverage price with quality and consistency to do that. Below is part of Jon Springers article.

“When planning the reductions, we began with one important question: What do our customers care about the most? It sounds simple, but we wanted to ensure we are giving our customers exactly what they want at the value they expect,” said Spencer Baird, Peapod's SVP of merchandising, in a statement. “Initial feedback has shown shoppers are very happy with the new value Peapod is delivering.”

The new offerings come as Peapod fights to regain growth momentum amid a wave of online competition, including more grocers offering click-and-collect and delivery options. Though the company posted U.S. sales of around $1 billion last year, officials of parent Ahold Delhaize in late 2017 said increasing competition in the space had slowed its relative growth, and that it would reinvest in the offering this year.

Since then, Peapod has debuted a text-to-order service, a new line of meal kits and integration with meal planner Dinner Daily. Last year, it debuted voice ordering through Amazon’s Alexa device……

Peapod is also offering a discounted version of its PodPass delivery subscription to incentivize shoppers to receive midweek deliveries only. PodPass MidWeek is less than half the price of the regular subscription and offers a year of deliveries on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for $55.

“This is just the beginning for us,” Baird said. “We'll be lowering prices and offering additional special promotions throughout 2018 based on seasonal purchasing and priority products. We want to keep delighting our customers every time they shop. Customers should know our commitment to value is permanent.”

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869