How retailers around the world doubled down on grocery delivery in 2019

Áine Cain

Dec 27, 2019, 23:02 IST

How retailers around the world doubled down on grocery delivery in 2019

Kyodo News Stills via Getty Images

Grocery delivery is shaping up to be an increasingly important aspect of retailers' business models.

Delivery is one of the latest frontiers for the grocery business.
Ecommerce insights firm Edge by Ascential analyzed the latest big moves in terms of grocery delivery, as part of its July 2019 industry report.
The report makes it clear that global giants like Walmart, Aldi, and Carrefour have made delivery a major priority.
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Shopping for groceries online is a phenomenon that's only just started to take off.

A May 2019 survey from Coresight Research found that 36.8% of shoppers in the United States purchased groceries online, up from 23.1% the previous year.

That means that grocery delivery is shaping up to be an increasingly important aspect of retailers' business models.

Ecommerce insights firm Edge by Ascential published a July 2019 report on the state of the grocery business, singling out instances of innovative delivery solutions. They found a number of high tech partnerships in the works, from looping in a popular messaging app to relying on drones to fly food and essentials into an island in Tokyo Bay.

Here's a look at what strategies retailers around the globe adopted around grocery delivery in 2019:

Mercadona, the biggest grocery chain in Spain, partnered up with delivery platform Bringg in June to facilitate delivery orders.

The service enables shoppers to arrange for deliveries to arrive within a "specific time slot," according to a press release from Bringg.

In the United States, Walmart sought to drive customer loyalty with its "delivery unlimited" subscription service at 1,400 locations.

For $98 a year or $12.95 a month, subscribers can receive unlimited grocery deliveries from Walmart.

And some of Walmart's Mexican locations are also getting in on the act when it comes to delivery innovations.

Customers can place delivery orders from Walmart Mexico's Superama banner by sending their request through the Whatsapp messaging app.

Walmart Japan has also come up with a rather futuristic approach to delivery. Walmart-owned Seiyu connected with electronics company Rakuten to provide drone delivery services to residents of Sarushima, an island in Tokyo Bay.

The trial was limited to the summer of 2019, and allowed shoppers to select from 400 products, including perishables and alcohol.

Instacart's partnership with Aldi US is nothing new, but the delivery service did expand its capabilities in 2019.

In Wisconsin and Florida, Instacart and Aldi have begun testing up curbside pickup for orders over $10, in addition to its traditional delivery offerings.

French multinational Carrefour and its Middle Eastern retail partner Majid Al Futtaim have acquired Wadi.com, an online grocery platform based in Saudi Arabia that features an assortment of 12,000 products.

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