NCAA March Madness Time So Postmates Is Giving Away Free Whoppers

Up-dated NCAA March Madness CANCELED so What do you think? 

Let us know 

Let the fun begin.  Its time once again for ‘March Madness’ this year amid widespread fears over COVID-19, Postmates is taking extra measures to protect the health and safety of the delivery ecosystem, which involves food and package handling stretching from restaurants to gig drivers to consumers. Which means that even if you don’t go to the game you can get a great meal delivered and you just might win a FREE Whopper.

This year Postmates has introduced a non-contact delivery option on its app for customers who prefer restaurant or merchant deliveries to be left at the door. Drivers are alerted to the preference at the time of delivery and according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® that is ‘better for you’.

With the NCAA tournament upon us, Postmates is celebrating. From March 19 to April 6, Postmates and Burger King are teaming up to give away Free Whoppers, when your team wins. Here is how it works:

Whopper Madness tips-off with “Selection Sunday” on March 15 when every Postmates customer will be assigned to a team—no purchase necessary, just open the app and you’ll find out who your team is. And the best part… whenever your team wins, you win a free Whopper. You’ll be alerted via push notification when your team wins and when you login to Postmates, you’ll receive a unique free Whopper promo code that can be used at checkout as you place your Whopper order.

Note: Promo codes are valid for 24 hours. To be eligible for the promo, new Postmates customers must be signed-up on Postmates before the first games begin on 3/19 (new customers after 3/19 will not be eligible.) Good luck to all and I hope you win a Free Whopper and or your favorite time wins.

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

Postmates Popeyes Partnerships Delivery Delight

When your chicken sandwich has been touted as the ‘best chicken’ in the industry it time to share it.  In a continued effort to drive new electricity into the Popeyes brand Popeyes is offering a free sandwich.

Success does leave clues and Popeyes has learned that consumers love their new chicken sandwich.  So, now leveraging its partnerships with Postmates, when consumers order at minimum of $15 then you will receive a fresh chicken sandwich. Here is how they explained the program:

“Leap year only happens once every four years, and this leap year, Postmates is delivering something extra for the extra day.

L(ove)E(ating)A(t)P(opeyes)? Postmates is celebrating Leap Day by delivering something extra from Popeyes. Anyone who purchases a chicken sandwich from Popeyes through Postmates between February 24–28 will receive a free chicken sandwich code via email on February 29.

Customers must hit a minimum order of $15 to receive the promotion.” So, tired of pizza try chicken for lunch instead.

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain and includes such things as fresh foods, Online ordering, delivery, plant based foods,  sampling, toy’s, beer, 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 food and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  Does your retail path forward look more like yesterday than tomorrow?  

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 that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

Chipotle from Food Marketing Leader too Bandwagon Marketing

The old adage still works; ‘when you can’t beat them join them’. When you get a new CEO from ‘out-side the company the old adage of CEO’s ‘do no harm’ takes on added importance.  Chipotle Mexican Grill has since Brian Niccol came on board been staying the course with proven industry trends, while looking more like today than tomorrow and that has paid off for investors in Chipotle stock.

Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® asks is that what Chipotle customers expect or is Niccol repositioning Chipotle from sector leader to something else?  

Recently Chipotle Mexican Grill teamed up with DoorDash to offer delivery nationwide. Clearly nothing new here except the partnership.  Now Chipotle delivery will be available from more than 1,500 Chipotle restaurants across the country, the company's largest delivery footprint to date.

Curt Garner, chief digital and information officer for Chipotle stated "Delivery is an important way we are making Chipotle even more convenient and accessible to our customers who want to get Chipotle delivered right to their home, office, or wherever they are," "By partnering with a delivery leader like DoorDash, we are making it even easier for customers to enjoy all the real ingredients that make up our delicious food."

At times brands need to play catch-up to industry trends and there is nothing wrong with bandwagon marketing, positioning, or new alike products.  After it sure has worked for McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s well you get the picture.  However leaders lead, the rest follow. Will Chipotle continue to follow main-street or will they return to a leadership position? What is Chipotle’s new electricity? 

So just what is your New Electricity? Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Is Food Delivery a Retail Channel of its Own

Amazon, Grubhub, Postmates, Instarcart, the list goes on and on for many of our readers you remember the start-up’s that were just a bit too early and a bit underfunded and internet speeds were simply to slow companies the ilk of CyberSlice.com, Webvan.com, CyberMeals.com, Food.com, and EZ2Get.com and you remember that Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson was there at the beginning of most of those building the marketing foundation that is now a retail channel of its own Fresh Food Delivery.

O’ how times have changed Delivery is 'delivering' sizable gains in both visits and sales over the last five years for restaurant operators, according to a new NPD Group study on delivery. The research company said that both a 20 percent increase in delivery sales and 10 percent gain in delivery foodservice visits were buttressed largely by the growth of digital ordering, which now represent over half of all delivery visits. In short smart mobile phone ordering changed everything according to Johnson.

NPD Senior VP of Industry Relations Warren Solochek  stated "Delivery has become a need to have and no longer a nice to have in the restaurant industry,"… "Restaurants need delivery in today's environment in order to gain and maintain share.  It has become a consumer expectation." 

This is important the study found “Consumers are so accustomed to ordering delivery that they are ordering it at breakfast and lunch in addition to dinner, which historically has been the most popular daypart to order it.”

Yes, the “Growth of delivery at dinner has remained flat over the last five year and has grown at breakfast and lunch. Although digital ordering is a major contributor to the growth of foodservice delivery, using the phone to order still represents 49 percent of delivery visits.” 

Third party delivery services, like UberEats, Grubhub and DoorDash, account for much of the digital delivery growth. However, the share of digital delivery by third party services is more than double among full service restaurants than quick service outlets. NPD forecast that delivery will grow over the next five years and the growth with source to non-traditional delivery outlets and dayparts,"

Do you now how to make delivery your New Electricity to drive sales? Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Subway’s Problems: Price, Portability, Possibility

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson was the first to identify, quantify, and qualify the restaurant sector “65 Inch HDTV Syndrome” back in 2012. The undercurrents behind the 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome have not abated but rather they have become more pronounced according to Johnson.

Take Subway for example since 2012 customer traffic has declined by 25%. The leading reason has been Subway’s franchisee’s desires to get away from the $5 foodlong according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards.

While Subway is seen by consumers as a ‘fresh / better-for-you’ brand when price was the impetus for customer adoption and migration it is natural to see customer trial and migration continue. According to Earnest Research, another consumer perceived ‘better-for-you’ brand Chick-fil-A had the largest growth in orders from former Subway customers from 2015 through 2017.

However once again not a surprise for the team working at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® but the next three most likely destinations for Subway customers defections in 2017 were ‘third-party delivery services’ Grubhub, Postmates and DoorDash. Regular readers of this blog know that back in 2013 Technomic edified Foodservice Solutions® meal portability as a key driver of consumer choice.

The line between consumer empowerment and choice offered by ‘third-party delivery’ services have elevated the path to purchase in a very competitive retail foodservice landscape. Branded meal and menu possibilities offered by ‘third-party food aggregators’ enhance consumer choice and will continue innovating providing customized meal solutions for families of any size.

The question today becomes ‘where will you be selling dinner’? The second question is how can you sell both meals and meal components competitively on a non-branded platform? Success does leave clues and the team at www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  can help you do just that. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us 

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

Tell a Friend that Jack is Back Jack in the Box Delivers

Regular readers of this blog know that food delivery is not the answer to building top line sales and bottom line profits that exceed the industry standard.  That said today’s customer expect the option of food delivery and delivery is an integral part of consumer relevance for and ever increasing number of consumers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

So when Jack in the Box announced a deal with Postmates that will make at-home delivery available at 1,000 locations in 29 markets it is important to note. What is also important is noting that Jack in the Box is using social integrated marketing to launch the new delivery service. 

Here is how it works Postmates and Jack in the Box will give away a free Jumbo Jack to Postmates customers who get friends to try Jack in the Box using the delivery service this week. Postmates customers can also get free delivery this week (first week of the new service).

Postmates customers must download and open the Postmates app then click on “Invite Friends.” There, they will see a referral code they can share with friends and family, who have seven days to use the code for a free Jumbo Jack and regular fountain drink. Once the friend uses the code, the referring customer will receive a credit on his or her Postmates account for a free Jumbo Jack that is valid for seven days.

Dan Mosher, senior vice president, Merchant Lead, for Postmates stated “We’ve been delivering Jack in the Box for years,” …“But by entering into an official partnership we look forward to working closer with them to get an even better customer experience.”

You all know the old adage lead, follow, or get out of the way.  No company can lead in every category of growth all of the time.  Following a huge industry trend at times is as important as leading according to Johnson. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

Will the 7-ElevenNow App Deliver Disruption

Foodservice Solutions® team was the first to tell you about how 7-Eleven planned to extend e-commerce in the Philippines with options that could become very disruptive to both the restaurant and grocery sectors.  Steven Johnson, our Grocerant Guru® warned that if this mass market test worked 7-Eleven would target the US next.  Well the new 7-ElevenNow App is here. 

How fast is you’re online food ordering App?  Our Grocerant Guru® believes that the new 7-Eleven’s own smartphone app for on-demand ordering and delivery is one of the best in the US. While testing of the “7-ElevenNOW’ App at the first with 10 of its Dallas stores has just begun. It is clear to us that the rollout and testing in the Philippines went well enough that they are planning to roll out the 7-ElevenNow app to other U.S. markets in 2018.

For those of you that from time to time forget 7-Eleven has more than 61,210 retail stores worldwide.  7-Eleven just might be the only retailer with the platform to challenge Amazon's Prime Now, the internet shopping juggernaut's speediest delivery service.  So just what might that mean for your fresh food sales?

Currently 7-Eleven customers have the ability to have fresh food items delivered including Slurpee’s.  Many of you have also forgotten that 7-Eleven banded, trademarked and has been selling Slurpee’s since 1969.  7-eleven with over 61,201 stores is one of the world’s best food marketing companies.

The team at Foodservice Solutions® believes that 7-Eleven ability to mix, match and bundled products via the 7-ElevenNOW App is become a industry leading disruptive force for both chain restaurants and grocery stores.

Currenlty 7-ElevenNow has "hundreds" of items including snacks, cosmetics, gift cards and home goods. Orders will be filled by 7-Eleven store employees, but deliveries will be made by services such as Postmates. If delivery is selected, the app will locate the nearest participating store and, once the order is placed it will notify a courier service. 

7-Eleven's chief digital officer Gurmeet Singh said the proprietary app "is redefining convenience."  Victor Paterno while speaking about how 7-Eleven Philippines is taking e-commerce mass market stated “Basically, we are using our logistics efficiencies to enable new e-commerce models. 

After placing their order, shoppers choose whether their order will be delivered or picked up. If delivery is selected, the app will auto-locate the nearest participating store and, once the order is placed, send it to a courier service. The courier picks up the customer’s prepped products at the store and delivers them to the customer’s location.

If shoppers choose the pick-up option, they select their preferred store. The order will be waiting for them at the register. Customers can pay for both delivery and pickup via the app. Customers that enroll for the service will receive free delivery on their first order, the company reported.

Sing continued “The app will enable our customers to get the products they want, when and where they want them, quickly and conveniently,”…. “This is redefining convenience.” Is your fresh food convenient? Is your App fast? What is customer relevance today?  Meal Kits? What’s the Next Big Thing?  Call us we know!

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