Restaurant Supply Chain Solutions by Instacart

 

With sales are rebounding at restaurants reassuring legacy restauranteurs that there is light at the end of a dark tunnel. customer expectations are even higher.  Many restaurants are running out of popular items creating customer discontent.  Success does leave clues and in 2023 technology can help solve short term supply chain solutions according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Today, some operators have found a more convenient solution for sudden out-of-stocks: Instacart. While doing a deep dive into its customer data recently, the grocery delivery company discovered that a chunk of its users were not individual consumers but small and medium-sized businesses. 

What’s more, those businesses were good customers. They showed better retention, placed larger orders and shopped at a greater variety of retailers compared to the average consumer.

Instacart dug deeper and learned that the release of pent-up pandemic demand, combined with supply chain backups, had made it more difficult for busy restaurants to stay stocked. “That’s where they started to experiment and use Instacart and become attached to not having to go to the store themselves,” said Andrew Nodes, Instacart’s VP of business and supply chain.

Now, the Instacart is embracing this growing segment with a new division called Instacart Business. The separate experience within the Instacart app allows restaurants and other small to medium-sized businesses to create an account. These accounts have features geared toward businesses, such as tools for tax exemptions and invoicing, and will show products they’re likely to be interested in, like bulk items.

All food retailers need to know that Instacart Business launched earlier this year and has been processing millions of orders each quarter. Because Instacart is a privately held company, Nodes would not reveal more specific details, but suggested that the company sees a big opportunity there.

“We’re making a big bet on this space, and we think it’s gonna lead to medium- and long-term growth opportunities for Instacart overall,” he said. 

To be clear, Instacart has no intention of disrupting the existing restaurant supply chain. It’s not going to be showing up in semi trucks for weekly deliveries. But it can be helpful in a pinch. 

“I think of Instacart as being more complimentary to [restaurants’] current supply chain,” Nodes said.

He gave the example of a chef who needed a specialty lemon olive oil that was not carried in bulk by his regular distributor. But he was able to find it on Instacart. 

Currently restaurants are using the app to buy all kinds of things, from fresh produce to cleaning supplies and canned goods, Nodes said. There are 1,200 retailers on Instacart, from wholesalers to grocers, pharmacies and convenience stores. Restaurants tend to shop at a variety of places. Their orders are fulfilled by what Instacart calls “Shoppers”—independent contractors who go to the store, buy the items and deliver them to the customer.

That convenience comes at a cost: Instacart’s delivery fees start at $3.99 and scale up based on things like geography and order size. But it also saves time. In a profile on Instacart’s website, the owners of five-unit Connie’s Chicken & Waffles estimated they had saved 2,000 hours since they started using Instacart to order supplies.

“It was just too much time away from the business,” Shawn Parker said. “We were going to Restaurant Depot almost every day, to the point where we were on a first-name basis with the team there and the other restaurant owners coming in daily.“  Now, we can just order directly from them through Instacart and have it all delivered.” Don’t run out, be prepared for success.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® 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: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Global Behemoth Aldi Flexes Its Concept for Today’s Consumers

 

There is no doubt that Aldi U.S. operates more than 2,308 stores in 38 states, plus the District of Columbia none in the State of Washington much to the dismay of Foodservice Solutions® Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson.

When a global behemoth the size of Aldi enters into a new partnership that aims to elevate its brand relevance creating new electricity everyone should be taking notice. Gen Z and Millennials are in search of food discovery and Aldi provides them that discovery at a price point that edifies their lifestyle and an undeniable need for speed.

Aldi entered into a different partnership with Instacart that will provide customers with quick delivery access to a select number of products all the while lowering the cost of basics being offered over the internet fast and fresh.

Not that Aldi teamed up with online delivery service Instacart to launch Aldi Express, a new virtual convenience store that will give customers access to nearly 2,000 Aldi-exclusive products. 

Sale items include prepared foods, snacks and drinks, along with some of Aldi's most shopped grocery staples and household essentials, all of which can be delivered in as little as 30 minutes. 

Scott Patton, vice president of national buying at Aldi, stated, "We know our customers live hectic lives, and sometimes that means they don't have time to make it to the grocery store — even for a quick trip. Through Aldi Express, we're making shopping more convenient so you can satisfy a craving or get a missing ingredient in minutes," … "Together with Instacart, we'll continue to find ways to innovate and make the online grocery experience even more effortless and accessible."

Aldi began offering delivery services via Instacart in 2017, with the service now delivering from more than 2,200 Aldi stores and providing pickup options for more than 1,500 stores nationwide. The companies expanded their partnership in 2018 to include alcohol delivery, and Aldi was one of the first retailers to accept EBT SNAP through Instacart in November 2020.

Ryan Hamburger, vice president of retail at Instacart, stated, "We're proud to deepen our partnership with Aldi through the introduction of Aldi Express. With this launch, we're making it easier for customers nationwide to get their favorite Aldi staples delivered faster than ever before," said. "We know how important it is to get what you need when you want it — whether it's a last-minute delivery for a missing dinner ingredient, milk for the baby or simply wanting a late-night snack."

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.” 

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. 

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday than tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Hand-Held Food Marketing Partnerships Can Garner New Customers

 

Who is your customer and where are they shopping today.  That said, don’t stop where will they be shopping next week, next month, next year.  What channels of distribution are your entrees, sides, or deserts selling?

Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® believes that if you are not evolving with your consumer’s, you are capitulating market share. If you are a fresh food, meal provider today and want to drive new electricity into your brand or garner new consumers you should know about the Instacart and Roku partnership.

So, Instacart and Roku have teamed up to help consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertisers make TV advertising more relevant and performance-driven across the entire streamer’s journey. A pilot with select partners revealed that consumers who saw the ad on Roku bought more of the advertised products on Instacart. 

You might not know that, in a pilot with a personal care brand, 60% of those who bought the brand after seeing its campaign on the Roku platform were new to the brand. Additionally, those who were exposed to a beverage brand’s Roku campaign and were new buyers of the brand had a 70% higher repeat rate than the average new-to-the-beverage-brand buyer on Instacart.

This new collaboration brings together viewership data from TV streaming platform Roku and insights from grocery tech company Instacart for marketers to measure whether streamers are buying products on Instacart after seeing an ad on the Roku platform. By matching this data with Roku’s first-party data, marketers can gauge the effect of TV streaming advertising on product sales. The companies intend for the partnership to help accelerate the shift of ad dollars into streaming TV and retail media. Consumer interest in TV streaming is growing: According to NielsenIQ, in July 2022, time spent streaming TV was larger than broadcast or cable for the first time.

Alison Levin, VP of ad revenue and marketing solutions at Roku, stated, “Our goal is to help marketers get more of what they love in TV,” noted. “Our partnership with Instacart makes it easier to measure actual return-on-advertising spend in e-commerce and meet consumers where they are – streaming TV.” 

The new capability, Instacart’s first TV streaming measurement partnership, will offer advertisers consumer purchase insights from its Marketplace, which teams with more than 1,100 retail banners and 80,000-plus stores throughout North America. With Instacart Ads, thousands of CPG brands – category leaders and emerging brands alike – work with the company to connect directly with consumers online at the point of purchase.  

Ali Miller, VP of ads product at San Francisco-based Instacart, stated, “With Instacart Ads, we’re committed to providing CPG brands the ad products, automation, insights and measurement they need to help them meet their objectives and prove their investment,” … which is available to more than 95% of households in the United States and Canada…. “We’re proud to partner with America’s No. 1 TV streaming platform, Roku, to give CPG brands even more insights to help them enhance and optimize their campaigns across TV streaming. As we look ahead, we’ll continue to innovate and expand on integrations and insights across every touchpoint of the consumer journey to serve CPGs better.” 

Are you looking for new customers? Do you want to keep your current customers while building new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.” 

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. 

This new partnership aims to provide innovative full-funnel solutions offering greater accountability in TV streaming. With the addition of Instacart, advertisers can access even more e-commerce data from grocers and drug stores, alcoholic beverages, apparel, beauty, home and office, and pet care products. 

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Baseballs Home Run Fresh Fast Food

 

Baseball is back, food sales are rebounding, technology is making life easier, (most of the time) and food technology leaders are expanding their leadership to help baseball teams sell fresh food faster with less cost involved in doing that according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® who stated, “time is money and both Instacart and Amazon launched their grab-and-go tech at baseball stadiums in an effort to drive brand awareness while introducing their products to more consumers.”

In case you have not been to a baseball game yet you may not know that Instacart and Amazon are bringing their tech to the major leagues. Instacart, in partnership with Aramark Sports + Entertainment, this week unveiled its Caper Counter AI-powered point-of-sale system at Boston’s Fenway Park, one week after Seattle-based Amazon launched its Just Walk Out cashierless technology at two food and beverage stores in Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

Talk about fresh food fast, both efforts are aimed at offering a more-streamlined and seamless shopping experience for baseball fans, allowing them to get their snacks and drinks more easily so they can return to the game faster.  

Get this, Boston Red Sox fans will be able to use three Caper Counters for contact-free checkout at select areas around the Boston stadium, including at the Truly Terrace and Walk Thru Bru. Powered by AI, including computer vision and Sensor Fusion technology, the Caper Counter visually detects and identifies items based on their shape, color, key features and sizes. Customers place items for purchase on the Caper Counter—at Fenway items include packaged food and beverages, such as peanuts, soda, beer and candy—where they will be automatically detected and added to the cart for checkout. Customers then select “pay” and choose from either a credit card, loaded ticket or team rewards as their method of payment before going on their way.

Lindon Gao, VP of engineering for Instacart, stated, "Nothing compares to the experience of attending a game in-person at the stadium, but we know fans increasingly want a more engaging, seamless and contact-free checkout experience. By helping to speed up the checkout experience, fans can spend less time buying their peanuts and beer and more time where they want—in the stands, cheering on their team,”… “On average, Caper Counter decreases transaction times by approximately 65%. We’re excited to continue bridging the gap between in-store and online experiences through our omnichannel solutions and look forward to expanding our partnership with Aramark Sports + Entertainment in the future.”

Now, listen to this, Caper Counters, which are designed for retailers that have a smaller physical footprint and SKU count, are one example of the in-store technologies offered as a part of Instacart Platform, a suite of enterprise-grade technologies to enhance and digitize retail experiences. Yes, that means small business with small footprints have new options.  This is important.

At the same time, Astros fans can skip the checkout using Amazon’s Just Walk Out tech at Minute Maid Park’s 19th Hole store, located on the concourse level behind Section 156, and the Market store, located on the Honda Club level behind Section 211. Both stores offer a selection of snacks, soda, candy and ready-to-drink alcohol beverages, while the concourse-level store also offers prepackaged salads, wine bottles and souvenirs. Technology can be overwhelming at times for many of us.  However, if can save you money on labor, seep up service, driving top-line sales and bottom-line profits.  It just might be worth looking into.

Dilip Kumar, VP of physical retail and technology for Amazon, stated, “Our technology is designed to deliver a fast and frictionless shopping experience, so we’re thrilled to help eliminate checkout lines for fans when they need to refuel during games and between innings,”.

I have used the Just Walk Out technology-enabled service at other stores and simply love it.  All you have to do is enter by inserting a credit card at the entry gates to shop. Once they’re inside, anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart. When they have completed their shopping experience, they can exit the store and the credit card they inserted will be charged for the items they took. Customers purchasing alcohol, however, will be required to show their ID to a store attendant for age verification.

Note that this differs slightly from the Just Walk Out tech available at Amazon Fresh stores and a Whole Foods in Washington, D.C., in that customers at these traditional grocery stores can also enter by scanning a QR code in an app or their palm for Amazon One use.  

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Evolving Grocer’s Deli to Restaurant Delivery

 

Technology has changed our world. Automatic bank deposits, self-breaking cars, drone delivery, and now the ability of grocery stores to delivery grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals, meal components, and beverages within an hour or less in many cases. 

According to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated, “the meal delivery business changed the day Instacart acquired FoodStorm.” Technology that can be disruptive is nothing new, however this particular tie-up can elevate the grocery store service deli like no other; if legacy grocery companies are ready to evolve as well.  If not, there will be new non-traditional fresh food retailers ready to jump into the mix according to Johnson.

So, with this acquisition, Instacart says it is expanding its enterprise technology portfolio to further support its retail partners’ digital foodservice, investing in more technology solutions that aim to help retailers grow, compete and better meet the evolving needs of their customers. 

Instacart Chief Technology Officer Mark Schaaf, recently stated in an interview, "People eat 21 meals a week, give or take, and we want to help our retail partners create more opportunities for their customers to get more and more of those meals from the grocery store,".. "We think for customers, this helps unlock a healthier, more affordable alternative than grocery delivery, and creates an easier way for people to order prepared foods online, directly from their favorite retailers that they shop from already today. And so that's another really exciting aspect of this acquisition."

Get this, FoodStorm offers a comprehensive SaaS solution that covers multi-channel ordering — e-commerce, phone or in-store kiosk — order management and payment and fulfillment. Its technology also integrates with a large variety of third-party systems, including point of service systems (POS), and offers CRM capabilities that help grocers collect feedback, market their offerings and leverage promotional features according to the article. Which translates to it’s ready-set-go for legacy grocery retailers.

In case you did not know, FoodStorm, founded 14 years ago in Australia, has developed strong partnerships with a number of Instacart’s existing retail partners including Albertsons Cos. banners Balducci’s, Kings Food Markets, Bi-Rite Market, Mollie Stone’s Markets, Uncle Giuseppe’s and Roche Brothers.  Instacart will make FoodStorm’s technology available to more retailers through Instacart’s enterprise technology offering. That said none of those retailer’s are using FoodStorm’s to its full potential according to Johnson.

What is it grocery stores don’t understand? Is it that the order-ahead technology solutions provide grocery retailers with a significant growth opportunity? On the Instacart platform, customers who purchase prepared foods and catering items like hot and cold side dishes, cakes and sushi from the grocery store have significantly larger baskets and shop more frequently than those customers who do not, the company said. Regular readers of this blog know that mix & match meal component bunding is a hallmark of grocerant niche success.

Schaaf continues, "Prepared foods are very big at all these retailers and a huge growth area for these retailers,"…. "But we want to help retailers provide the best possible experience for their customers, which means bringing their entire catalog of products and services onto the marketplace, which they don't have the best experience right now on Instacart. And we want to make that better."

I wonder if grocery stores understand that, order-ahead items and prepared foods are also typically more profitable than traditional groceries like produce and package goods.  

Schaaf had even more insights to share in the article, "Grocers see this as an incredible growth area for their business,"... "We've seen that ‘customer’ baskets on the Instacart platform that include meals are significantly higher than baskets without prepared or premade foods. We've also seen customers who purchase meals order more frequently than customers who do not purchase grocery meals, and today meals are in I think 21% of customer baskets. And we think there's a large opportunity of growth for our retailers in this space."

In case you did not know, Instacart’s enterprise technology today powers the e-commerce platforms of more than 175 local, regional and national grocers across North America, including Costco Canada, Heinen’s, Sprouts, The Fresh Market and Wegmans.

Instacart first began offering enterprise technology to grocery partners in 2017. Since then, the company has continued to make significant investments in its enterprise business, scaling its engineering team and developing new technologies for grocers.  Instacart’s platform is available to over 85% of U.S. households and 80% of Canadian households.

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

7-Eleven Fresher Faster Delivery than from a Grocery Store

 

Consider this 7-Eleven can delivery beer, wine, milk, eggs, pizza, salads, and a new flavored Slurpee for the kids as fast as a restaurant and in most cases, and much faster than just about all grocery stores according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Partnerships matter and at 7-Eleven.  Each partnership is designed to edify a consumer touchpoint that drive incremental engagement, top line sales, and bottom-line profits according to Johnson.  Partnership can expedite customer migration, drive frequency, or speed-up new product development all creating new electricity for the brand and franchisees.

 So, get this Instacart, and 7-Eleven have expanded their partnership to an additional 4,000 U.S. store locations, enabling the nation’s largest convenience retailer to offer half hour deliveries to roughly 60 million households. That’s right the Big Bite, Big Gulp, a Pizza and a Beer can delivered to just about every household in the U.S. within 30 minutes or less.  Give it a try. 

Raghu Mahadevan, 7‑Eleven SVP and head of digital, stated, “7-Eleven strives to be the world’s leader in convenience, which means giving customers what they want, when, where and how they want it,”. “Customers on Instacart can now benefit from thousands of products to be delivered from a 7-Eleven store to their door in 30 minutes or less.”

Regular readers of this blog know that 7-Eleven began its relationship with Instacart last September with a pilot program involving 750 stores in select metro areas. Consumers can choose from thousands of products including pantry staples, household items, alcohol, snacks and over-the-counter medications in 33 states and Washington D.C. In addition, customers in California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, New York and Ohio Washington D.C. can also have alcohol delivered in as little as 30 minutes. The companies plan to scale alcohol delivery to more states and stores over the coming months.

Chris Rogers, VP of retail at San Francisco-based Instacart, stated, “As more people turn to Instacart to help put food on their tables, we’ve seen customer demand for convenience retailers increase over the last year, with convenience orders on Instacart up by more than 350% since last August,”. “To meet this growing demand, we’re proud to expand with 7-Eleven to nearly 6,000 stores, and give customers across the country access to thousands of essential goods they can now have delivered from the store to their door in as fast as 30 minutes.”

The intersection of the consumer and fresh food fast is getting blurred even more once again according to Johnson. This move is the latest example of how the definition of convenience continues to be transformed and comes amid the ongoing transformation of 7-Eleven’s physical presence.

There is no doubt that the new battleground for Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food; revolves around how quickly products can be delivered to shoppers, whether that is at home, work, or a park.  

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new menu related products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, music, developing brands, unique urban hemp clothing, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  How is your brand building new electricity?

We now can see that the definition of convenience includes a dimension of delivery, and more importantly, delivery speed, 7-Eleven is pressing on its proximity advantage.  7-Eleven is looking a customer ahead competing within grocery stores, restaurants, dollar stores, and new non-traditional retailers.

7-Eleven is not too big to continue evolving.  Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information.