Retail Channels
22 July 2022
Uber is doubling down on grocery delivery
Updates coming to Uber Eats this summer include after-hours ordering, tracking merchant features.
Uber Eats items. (Courtesy image)
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Uber is upgrading its grocery delivery service.
While the company rose with ridesharing, its delivery business picked up in the pandemic as people were more likely to be home and advised against getting into cars with others. The company’s Uber Eats service initially launched grocery delivery two years ago as an addition to its then-restaurant-focused delivery offering. In 2021, it acquired Chile-based grocery delivery service Cornershop, and added 24,000 grocery stores around the world. Growth has only continued, including the notable US addition of 2,000 Albertsons stores over the last two years.
With a raft of new features announced on Thursday, Uber said it is rolling out a fuller version of the integration with Cornershop’s technology and team to users and merchants this summer. Taken together, the updates are the largest improvement to Uber's service yet, all designed to make grocery delivery “more convenient, intuitive, and reliable.”
For users, Uber is making a number of updates based on consumer feedback. They include:
- After hours ordering: Users can place grocery orders at stores even when they aren’t open, with delivery set for the “first available window” or scheduled at a customer’s convenience.
- Order tracking: Uber is looking to upgrade support, including offering live order tracking that shows when each item is scanned to a cart, as well as when it is on the way.
- Intuitive shopping: Users will be able to select product replacements if an item is out of stock, and shop for items like produce or meat by weight.
For merchants, updates coming to the app this summer include:
- Barcode scanning
- Inventory management upgrades
- The ability to more easily add an item to images
- Real-time support to fix issues
Uber’s continued expansion of grocery delivery shows it sees continued growth for the service, even as more in-store shopping and ridesharing is returning.
Speaking in April at the ShopTalk conference, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that expansion in grocery delivery was part of the company’s push to be a leader in “local commerce,” which involves the delivery of items from nearby merchants to customers. Khosrowshahi added that Uber believes that “rapid delivery should be a part of every local grocery player's offerings," and that Uber could introduce for them in a "capital-light" way. While Uber Eats started with meals from restaurants, it is expanding with delivery of items from grocery and convenience stores, including non-food items – the so-called Don’t Eats model promoted by its celebrity-strewn Super Bowl commercial.
Each of these areas has its own set of players vying to quickly shuttle orders to doorsteps alongside Uber. Grocery delivery has Walmart, which makes it a part of its subscription service, and Instacart, which announced intentions to go public, has been slashing its valuation and making its own product updates. DoorDash and Grubhub are also expanding from meals into non-food items. Quick commerce companies like Gopuff are delivering convenience items in tight timeframes. Plus, Amazon looms over each segment, not only in grocery delivery via Whole Foods but also the ability to deliver items quickly via its fulfillment network.
Still, there's plenty of potential upside in grocery. It is an area that is expected to grow, with executives in the grocery sector recently telling McKinsey that they expected ecommerce penetration to more than double in the next 3-5 years. Uber is positioning itself as part of this rise, and it has quickly built up a notable presence in the area, given the range of stores it is partnering with in the US and international markets. Offering delivery from multiple locations creates a kind of marketplace, and additional opportunities can also grow out of this model to further strengthen the business. Retail media could offer brands and retailers the opportunity to advertise inside Uber’s delivery experience. And Khosrowshahi hinted that the company will seek to provide logistics technology to local businesses.
The product provides a foundation for all of that, and this summer’s upgrades to Uber Eats signal that the company wants to continue to make the service better.
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Marketing
09 June
'There's a lot of ways to frame value'
Campbell Soup Company CEO Mark Clouse offered thoughts on messaging amid inflationary shifts in consumer behavior.
Photo by Kelly Common on Unsplash
After months of elevated inflation and interest rate hikes that have the potential to cool demand, consumers are showing more signs of shifting behavior.
It’s showing up in retail sales data, but there’s also evidence in the observations of the brands responsible for grocery store staples.
The latest example came this week from Campbell Soup Company. CEO Mark Clouse told analysts that the consumer continues to be “resilient” despite continued price increases on food, but found that “consumers are beginning to feel that pressure” as time goes on.
This shows up in the categories they are buying. Overall, Clouse said Campbell sees a shift toward shelf-stable items, and away from more expensive prepared foods.
There is also change in when they make purchases. People are buying more at the beginning of the month. That’s because they are stretching paychecks as long as possible.
These shifts change how the company is communicating with consumers.
Clouse said the changes in behavior are an opportunity to “focus on value within our messaging without necessarily having to chase pricing all the way down.”
“No question that it's important that we protect affordability and that we make that relevant in the categories that we're in," Clouse said. "But I also think there's a lot of ways to frame value in different ways, right?”
A meal cooked with condensed soup may be cheaper than picking up a frozen item or ordering out. Consumers just need a reminder. Even within Campbell’s own portfolio, the company can elevate brands that have more value now, even if they may not always get the limelight.
The open question is whether the shift in behavior will begin to show up in the results of the companies that have raised prices. Campbell’s overall net sales grew 5% for the quarter ended April 30, while gross profit margins held steady around 30%. But the category-level results were more uneven. U.S. soup sales declined 11%, though the company said that was owed to comparisons with the quarter when supply chains reopened a year ago and expressed confidence that the category is seeing a longer-term resurgence as more people cook at home following the pandemic. Snacks, which includes Goldfish and Pepperidge Farm, were up 12% And while net sales increased overall, the amount of products people are buying is declining. Volumes were down 7%.
These are trends happening across the grocery store. Campbell is continuing to compete. It is leading with iconic brands, and a host of different ways to consume them. It is following that up with innovation that makes the products stand out. Then, it is driving home messaging that shows consumers how to fit the products into their lives, and even their tightening spending plans.
Campbell Soup is more than 150 years old, and has seen plenty of difficult economic environments. It is also a different business today, and will continue to evolve. At the end of the day, continued execution is what’s required.
“If it's good food, people are going to buy it, especially if it's a great value,” Clouse said.
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