Back
in the day when the first ‘Internet God Rush’ was underway Peapod was a start-up
company the ilk of Webvan, Cyberslice, Cybermeals, and hundreds of other
companies were as well but most of the others did not thrive, evolve or
survive. What did evolve was the growth
or the grocerant niche filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food. So how is it that Peapod continued and is
doing so well today?
Peapod
was founded in 1989 by brothers Andrew and Thomas Parkinson. Peapod succeeded because it has evolved,
expanded, and engaged consumers along the way. It has gone from a small,
family-run shopping and delivery service in Illinois to America's leading
Internet grocer, delivering more than 23 million orders across 24 U.S. markets.
Currently
Peapod is wholly owned subsidiary of international food provider Royal Ahold,
and works in partnership with Ahold USA supermarket companies Stop & Shop,
Giant Food Stores. Engaging customers has created the platform of success
Peapod enjoys today.
Along
the way Peapod reached out to consumers in new ways to engage them including
where computers cannot go: the subway platform. Peapod outfitted one of
Chicago’s busiest metro stations with a virtual grocery store giving smartphone
users on-the-go access to grocery aisles. It was so successful that they
rolled the program out in Philadelphia, and New England as well.
Unafraid
to evolve or of completion Peapod is not letting Amazon steal its market
leadership so it rolled out its own Amazon-ish
button-based service that helps customers shop.
Peapod
announced with Walmart that both companies integrated their online grocery
services with “the scanning and voice-enabled shopping button, hiku. The
service will be available in more than 40 markets in 24 states.
Similar to Amazon Dash, hiku allows customers to scan or speak items to a
mobile shopping list…
After
customers scan or speak items into hiku (a small, metallic button), the
resulting shopping list is matched to online availability. Customers then place
their orders at Walmart Online Grocery, which requires customers to pick
up their purchases made through hiku, or Peapod, which offers pickup and
delivery. “
Success
does leave clues and Peapod has picked them up along the way. Peapod continues to evolve and continues to
drive top line sales and bottom line profits.
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? Interested in learning how? Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or Email
us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
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