H-E-B tech innovation lab will Drive Digital Strategy & Delivery

Food delivery continues to drive incremental sales in every segment of retail foodservice today.  At times that delivery is a direct replacement for an in store visit according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  That said food delivery edifies brand relevance in the minds-eye of the consumer today and should be a tool in every food marketing tool kit.

H-E-B understands that while food delivery hovers around 6.2% within the grocery sector delivery of newspapers once the staple grocery store marketing and messaging has less than 31 million household penetration rate. Grocery stores and H-E-B understand digital marketing is the direct one on one relationship that is replacing the newspaper.

So, once again doing all the right things H-E-B plans to build a two-story, 81,000-square-foot technology facility and innovation lab for its digital team and Favor on-demand delivery service. H-E-B will renovated an industrial warehouse to be transformed into a “world-class” creative and collaborative workspace for Austin-based members of the H-E-B digital team and Favor’s corporate headquarters, according to the company.

H-E-B Chief Digital Officer Jag Bath stated “This state-of-the-art space will be a hub for creativity and innovation as we continue to develop the ultimate digital experience for our customers,” …“Bringing H-E-B and Favor closer together will allow us to promote collaboration between our two companies as we strengthen our commitment to building out H-E-B’s omnichannel services,” noted Bath, who also is president and chief executive officer of Favor.

Note: In support of its efforts to become a digital leader in the grocery arena, H-E-B acquired the Austin-based Favor delivery service in mid-February and then two months later named Bath as chief digital officer of H-E-B.

Meanwhile, H-E-B has steadily extended its online grocery reach via H-E-B Delivery and H-E-B Curbside service, now offered at more than 145 stores in Texas and slated to become available at 165 stores this year. Overall, the company operates 400 stores in Texas and Mexico. H-E-B is doing all of the right things.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant