The Boise, Idaho-based company reported an adjusted net income of $392 million for the first quarter, which ended June 15. Stores under the Albertsons Companies Inc. umbrella include:

• Safeway
• Albertsons
• Shaw’s
• ACME
• Jewel-Osco
• Randalls
• Vons

In total, the chain operates 2,269 retail food and drug stores with 1,725 pharmacies.

Albertsons is No. 24 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales. It is classified as a Food & Beverage retailer. Digital Commerce 360 projects that Albertsons total web sales in 2024 will reach $5.52 billion.

Albertsons web sales by year

Albertsons Q1 earnings results

In a released statement, Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankara lauded the company’s performance. However, he also cautioned that there are potential impediments to earnings ahead.

“As we look ahead to the balance of fiscal 2024, we expect to see continuing headwinds related to investments in associate wages and benefits, an increasing mix of our pharmacy and digital businesses which carry lower margins, and the cycling of prior year food inflation,” Sankara said, adding that some of the turbulence will be offset by other actions the company is taking.

“We expect these headwinds to be partially offset by ongoing productivity initiatives,” Sankara said.

Albertsons Q1 earnings came just two days before the grocery agreed to pause its proposed merger with Kroger. Regulators are suing to block the $24.6 billion deal, which already led to the companies proposing a list of almost 600 stores that they would sell if the merger closes. Both companies agreed to an injunction, eliminating the need for another hearing before the case — which was filed in Colorado — proceeds to trial on Sept. 30.

Albertsons digital sales soared in Q1

The 23% growth in Albertsons online ordering business reflected ongoing investments it is making to build out capabilities.

“In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we continued to invest in our Customers for Life strategy and the digital and omnichannel capabilities necessary to support it,” Sankaran said. “Our Customers for Life strategy is placing the customer at the center of everything we do, and we continued to drive strong year-over-year growth in loyalty members as we launched our new simplified ‘for U’ loyalty program.”

The loyalty program, rebranded recently as “for U,” offers a more streamlined experience and digital deals to reward customers.

In Albertsons’ fiscal first quarter, its growth occurred as the company expanded its network of grocery delivery partners to include Grubhub, in addition to Doordash and Instacart. Albertsons began revamping its digital strategy during the pandemic as more customers shifted their shopping online.

“Speed and convenience are becoming just as important as cost savings,” Chris Rupp, Albertsons chief customer and digital officer, told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2022.

Kevin Dunn, vice president of retail and consumer packaged goods sales at Liveramp, a data collaboration platform, attributes earnings results at Albertsons to its robust customer data collection program.

“Albertsons positive quarterly earnings results are a testament to the power of first-party data,” Dunn said.

That data is used not only to identify what Albertsons customers want, but also to power its retail media network capabilities.

“Leveraging its media network, the Albertsons Media Collective, the retailer has built powerful, data-driven partnerships with its brands and suppliers that deliver the real-time insights needed to bridge the online and offline customer experience,” Dunn explained.

Other details

Albertsons explicitly highlighted risks related to the proposed merger with Kroger. Those risks include the “ability to close the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, and the impact of the costs related to the Merger,” according to Albertsons. Other concerns mentioned were:

• “Erosion of consumer confidence”
• “Restrictions on our ability to operate”
• “Challenges in retaining and motivating our associates until the closing of the Merger”
• “Litigation related to the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement”

Additional first-quarter highlights include:

• Identical sales increased 1.4%.
• Loyalty members increased 15% to 41.4 million.
• Net income of $241 million, or $0.41 per share.
• Adjusted net income of $392 million, or $0.66 per share.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $1,184 million.
• Total net debt of $7.57 billion as of June 15, 2024.
• Net debt ratio of 1.81.

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The UNFI Media Network launched in May 2024. It extends digital marketing capabilities to more than 30,000 retail customer locations and about 11,000 brand partners, the distributor said.

Louis Martin, president of wholesale, United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI)

UNFI already offered what it called “professional services” to its clients. That included helping clients design the layout of a new store, shelving units, getting deals on refrigeration equipment, or getting better rates on credit card machines bought through the company.

What became clear was that retail media was a service UNFI’s independent and regional clients “were not getting full access to,” Louis Martin, UNFI president of wholesale, told Digital Commerce 360.

UNFI owns some retail banners, including Cub and Shoppers Value.

Why did UNFI start a retail media network?

There are a variety of reasons these independent and regional grocery stores were not getting full access, he said. One of those reasons is the scale at which the retailer can buy and sell product.

“If you’re a small independent grocer or a bodega or a mom-and-pop store with three to four or five outlets, you probably don’t have the bandwidth or infrastructure in place to be negotiating with Kraft on what they’re going to bring into your store,” Martin told Digital Commerce 360.

Another example is that a grocery company could have different store banners through which it sells, but they use different types of technologies, making it challenging to have a single point of entry to “that universe of retailers because they were all in different places,” he said.

As a result, he added, UNFI identified that developing a retail media network would create value for the grocery distributors and store operators it serves. In a sense, UNFI and those companies it served were “sitting on the sidelines as Walmart and Kroger and Amazon and Target were building their infrastructure for retail media.”

“Well, we wanted to make sure our customers had an ability to play in that space,” Martin said. “And not only did we think that internally, but a whole lot of our customers were coming to us and saying, ‘Help me think about this.’ We need to be able to compete and provide this to our consumers in our stores so that they have more tailored and differentiated shopping experiences — because we’re not going to beat Walmart on price, but we can offer a much better shopping experience, and this is a way to do that.”

How does a company develop a retail media network?

At first, Martin said, UNFI planned to build its retail media network capabilities in-house. And it began to do so.

But the distributor realized “really quickly” that developing such technology wasn’t its core capability. And its customers couldn’t wait for the time it would take UNFI to develop it, Martin explained. That led to UNFI meeting with technology providers figure out which retail media platform best matched its goals. Among those providers was Swiftly, which had the added benefit of having already been working with UNFI customers, Martin said, allowing the distributor to get references it felt were credible.

What is an example of a retail media network?

Retail media networks are a type of advertising platform where retailers can sell ad space on their own digital channels to third parties. Advertisers can target their ads using the retailer’s first-party data on customers, including information from loyalty programs. Then, advertisers can place ads on the retail media network provider’s websites, within mobile apps, or in stores via screens and displays. Those options provide an alternative to other targeting methods, such as those that rely on third-party cookies.

The on-site — or on-platform — component allows retailers advertising through the UNFI Media Network to “create a tailored shopping platform” via desktop and mobile.

In UNFI’s case, it’s not limited to UNFI-owned channels, Martin told Digital Commerce 360. Its retailer and supplier partners will be able to advertise off-platform in, for example, the Wall Street Journal as well as on Facebook and other social media platforms, Martin said. What differentiates it from other digital marketing is that they are targeting not just generic consumers from a marketplace or area. Instead, they can target individuals who they know are members of a loyalty program within UNFI’s system.

Based on that, he said, advertisers can “understand with a closed loop” if consumers convert from looking at a product via retail media advertising and then going to a UNFI-affiliated store or supplier website or app.

How does it work?

Retail media networks can work in different ways. For the UNFI Media Network, one way is through suppliers and brands couponing digitally. Another is being part of a retailer’s loyalty program.

Whereas some companies feel they’re devaluing their brand’s equity through couponing, Martin said, there are workarounds that still benefit both the advertising brand and the consumer. One example is that a brand can opt to donate a certain amount of points to a grocery store’s loyalty program if a consumer purchases the brand’s product. The consumer then accumulates points from that purchase that can eventually convert to dollars they can spend on groceries.

“But you did it through a series of transactions,” Martin said. “You didn’t do it because Heinz ketchup happened to be cheap that week, and so there’s a lot of interesting ways to reinforce that loyalty and that activation.”

Grocers and brands selling in UNFI Media Network-affiliated stores can also use in-store digital advertising. For example, some grocery stores might use digital screens on the doors in their refrigerated and frozen sections, highlighting specific products or displaying video advertisements.

It then becomes “plug and play based on what the retailer wants and prioritizes,” Martin said.

That could mean ads prioritizing categories, a retail banner, a loyalty program or in-store activity.

First-party data and user privacy

All this factors into the personalized advertising UNFI Media Network displays. But it’s also based on consumers’ shopping activity.

“What you’re going to see and what gets promoted to you is going to be very much tailored to meet those buying patterns and to help reinforce what you’ve already demonstrated are your preferences or your priorities as a consumer,” Martin said. “And more importantly, through our network, not only are you tailoring it, but one of the things that we thought was so important about Swiftly versus other retail media platforms out there is that the retailer retains 100% control of the information and data of that shopper, of that loyalty subscriber. They don’t have to give that away.”

Other retail media platforms, Martin said, declining to name them, will give companies access to the technology in exchange for user data. Those platforms, he said, are “interested in then using that data to create last-mile delivery connectivity.”

“Well, we’re not in the last-mile business,” Martin said. “We’re in the [business of] helping our shoppers, our business, our retailers grow their business in store. So we actually are able to deliver on the promise that you retain your shopper loyalty data. It is yours. It is private to you. We don’t need to see it to activate the programming that we have and we are able to provide the right ROAS [return on ad spend] analytic analytics to the suppliers without having to sacrifice that privacy either.”

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Brick Meets Click and Mercatus define the three receiving methods for online grocery sales as:

• Delivery: Includes orders received from a first- or third-party provider like Instacart, Shipt or the retailer’s own employees.
• Pickup: Includes orders received by customers either inside or outside a store or at a designated location/locker.
• Ship-to-home: Includes orders that are received via common or contract carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.

Pickup, the largest segment by sales, remained flat year over year, but delivery and ship-to-home both grew.

“Delivery’s strong performance in June likely benefited from the promotional offers made last month, first by Instacart and then by Walmart,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click, in a statement. “These promotions focused on delivery and offered deep discounts on each service’s annual membership fees, which helped boost both MAUs [monthly average users] and order frequency for delivery and for Walmart.”

June 2024 data was based on a survey of 1,744 adults in the United States and a similar survey in June 2023 of 1,769 adults, Brick Meets Click said.

June online grocery sales

Online grocery sales in June 2024 grew compared to June 2023. They also grew compared to May 2024, which saw a year-over-year decline.

June online grocery sales hit $7.7 billion, according to Brick Meets Click and Mercatus. That’s an 8.0% increase from $7.1 billion in June 2023.

Online grocery delivery sales grew to $2.9 billion in June 2024. That’s up 18% from $2.5 billion in the prior-year period.

Similarly, ship-to-home sales grew to $1.3 billion in June 2024. That’s a nearly 10% increase from $1.2 billion in June 2023. That marked the fourth straight month of year-over-year sales gains for the segment. Brick Meets Click and Mercatus attributed that growth to an increase in average order value (AOV) despite a 1% reduction in MAUs and a decline in order frequency.

Impact of Mass Merchants on monthly online grocery sales

The overall online grocery MAU base grew nearly 4% year over year in June, driven almost entirely by reactivating lapsed users, Brick Meets Click and Mercatus said. The increase in customers in June 2024 is largely due to less-frequent users making another order or lapsed customers who are giving the service another chance, they said.

Nearly a third of customers bought online from both grocery stores and Mass Merchants — such as Walmart, Target or Costco — Brick Meets Click and Mercatus data showed. In June, 31.6% of online grocery store shoppers also received an online grocery order from a Mass Merchant. More specifically, the share of online grocery store shoppers who also ordered groceries online from Walmart reached 22%.

Walmart, Target and Costco each rank in the top 10 within Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 Database. The database ranks North America’s leading online retailers by their web sales.

In terms of where surveyed households report buying most of their groceries, whether in-store or online, Mass Merchants expanded their share to 42% in June 2024. Meanwhile, supermarket operators’ share dipped to 39%.

“Regional grocers need to stem the tide and regain market share by leveling the playing field against Mass Merchants, despite these rivals having a price advantage,” said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth officer at Mercatus, in a statement. “Integrating personalized and targeted promotions into their first-party platform experience will be key to re-engaging lapsed customers and improving repeat purchase rates. Additionally, incorporating high-level, in-store customer service into the digital experience — a strength that regionals are known for — will be crucial and can give them an advantage over their mass [merchant] competitors.”

Read last month’s update here.

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The post June online grocery sales grow as fulfillment methods get more use appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Albertsons is No. 24 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000, a ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales. The company appears in the rankings’ Food & Beverage category. Digital Commerce 360 projects total ecommerce sales for Albertsons in 2024 will be $5.52 billion.

Albertsons ecommerce sales by year

Why Albertsons is partnering with Grubhub for delivery

Amber Kappa, vice president of business development and digital innovation at Albertsons Co., framed the partnership in the context of the grocer’s prioritization of “convenience, choice and variety.”

“With our latest collaboration with Grubhub, shoppers can receive fresh produce, household essentials, and regional favorites directly from our stores to their homes with a simple tap on Grubhub,” she said in a public statement.

Analysts and insiders see the partnership as offering strategic benefits to both parties and customers.

Damian Rollison, director of market insights at the brand marketing platform SOCi, said that the Grubhub and Albertsons alliance makes sense.

“The partnership between Grubhub and Albertsons marks a strategic move for both companies to capture a larger share of the online grocery delivery market,” Rollison says.

Delivery strategy at Albertsons

Rollison said this collaboration expands Albertsons’ digital footprint and enhances customer convenience. He also noted that it diversifies delivery options alongside existing Albertsons partnerships with Instacart and DoorDash. In addition, it responds to consumer demand for increased digital availability of common local needs, including groceries.

Rollison said Grubhub’s entry into the grocery delivery market uses its established logistics and customer base. Moreover, it will tap into a new revenue stream as online grocery shopping continues to grow.

“Partnering with a major chain like Albertsons also strengthens Grubhub’s competitive position by offering a more comprehensive service portfolio,” Rollison assessed.

He called this partnership the latest example of a food delivery company trying to become an “everything app” connecting consumers to local stores.

“This partnership sets a precedent for future collaborations in the online grocery delivery space, reflecting the current consumer retail behavior,” Rollison says.

Opening up a new channel for discovery

While home grocery delivery has become a fairly standard service since the pandemic, Jennifer Silverberg, CEO of the ecommerce platform provider SmartCommerce, says that Albertsons’ partnership with Grubhub has a crucial difference from in-house delivery services like ones run by Kroger: “Grubhub is not talking about being the fulfillment engine of an order that happens on an Albertsons site,” Silverberg said (though that may happen, too). Rather, she sees it as being more about using Albertsons as a product source, or de facto “warehouse” for products purchased on Grubhub.

“This moves the shopping experience from Albertsons to Grubhub, which reflects what we have been seeing for a while, where product discovery and now even the transaction have become distributed, rather than concentrated only at the retailer,” Silverberg stated.  She added that the trend has expanded the definition of a retailer to pretty much anywhere a product is purchased.

“We have the potential to see a fundamental change in what we as consumers consider a store,” Silverberg said. She called the partnership “a very smart move” for Albertsons.

“It gets them at the front of the line for expanding their reach with Grubhub’s reach,” she explained. “It would be easy and understandable for a retailer to try to insist on controlling the full shopping experience — many are — but based on the shifts we’ve seen in consumer behavior, this was a very smart move for all parties.”

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The new Digital Commerce 360 report, B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies, covers the growth strategies of these and other companies and is available for free download.

B2B ecommerce can be complicated for both buyers and sellers.

The spirits industry is a good example.

Advanced Spirits, a Houston alcoholic beverage distillery and services company, has launched Barrel Hub, an ecommerce platform for the wholesale bulk whiskey market.

Like other marketplaces featured in the DC360 report, Barrel Hub offers online tools designed to smooth out the purchasing process.

“From our soft launch, we know one of the most pressing questions that buyers and sellers have is around purchase price,” says Advanced Spirits president Rob Arnold. “What is the current value of this whiskey barrel?”

But he adds: “The lack of transparency in the wholesale bulk whiskey market makes this question hard to answer. Therefore, Barrel Hub has introduced a bid feature, so that buyers and sellers can collectively set fair market values.”

At Science Exchange, “our supplier orchestration platform sits on top of P2P [peer-to-peer] and ERP [enterprise resource planning] systems and includes a powerful workflow engine and integration platform, automating the entire process of collaborating with suppliers from intake to payment,” says CEO Elizabeth Iorns. “This improves how life sciences companies collaborate with suppliers, enabling faster project execution, improving compliance, significantly reducing costs, and ultimately bringing therapeutics to market faster.”

Science Exchange features include:

• Users can access Science Exchange’s existing network of 3,800 suppliers under a standard legal agreement and synchronize existing suppliers they use daily.
• Automated guided buying tools also help each transaction comply with purchasing and third-party risk management (TPRM) policies.
• Configurable workflow automation supports purchasing and compliance requirements across sites, teams and purchase categories, among other areas.

The B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies report also covers statistics on marketplace industry growth and provides an inside look at marketplace strategies in case studies on OnlineMetals.com, electronic components and hardware distributor Bisco Industries, and the apparel business FashionGo.

In addition, the report also covers how the used-vehicle marketplace is using AI and computer vision technology to help buyers evaluate vehicles online before  purchasing, and how a new AI-powered catalog management tool from marketplace technology company Mirakl expedites how online sellers list their products.

B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies  is available as complimentary download.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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CEO Rodney McMullen said in an earnings call with investors that Kroger expects customer sentiment “to continue improving” as inflation moderates. But for now, many are “managing economic uncertainty.”

“As we’ve seen over recent quarters, customers continue to seek value and are shopping with us differently based on their financial situations,” McMullen said. “Spending from premium and mainstream customers continue to be strong.”

He added that Kroger is starting to see positive signs among its “most budget-conscious households.”

Kroger has moved up to No. 6 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database ranking the largest online retailers in North America. Kroger is first in the Top 1000’s Food/Beverage category. However, it competes with Mass Merchants that rank higher than it in the Top 1000 — Walmart and Target — for online grocery sales.

Kroger digital sales

In Q1, Kroger said, it accelerated its digital presence by increasing delivery sales 17% year over year. It also increased digitally engaged households 9% year over year.

Kroger digital sales increased more than 8% in Q1, said Todd Foley, interim chief financial officer, in the earnings call. For total Kroger sales, which increased to $45.3 billion in Q1, gross margin was 22.4% of sales. Whereas total sales increased slightly from $45.2 billion in the previous year’s Q1, gross margin decreased slightly (down seven basis points), he said.

McMullen said delivery and pickup both grew in the quarter. Kroger’s delivery team has improved fill rates, he said. That refers to the number of orders Kroger can ship from its available stock. It also reduced wait times and improved on how many of its orders were delivered without error, he added.

“Through the power of machine learning and AI, we are developing new ways to elevate the pickup experience for customers and at the same time reduce costs,” McMullen said. “With dynamic batching of orders, these tools are providing associates the most effective pick routes, which is enabling us to dramatically reduce pick lead time in our highest volume stores.”

Additionally, he said customers love Kroger’s delivery experience for refrigerated products. The Kroger delivery network has nearly doubled sales year over year in Q1, he said.

Personalization and retail media at Kroger

Personalization has helped Kroger engage with more digital customers, McMullen said. As a result, Kroger customers clipped 18% more digital coupons than they did in the year-ago quarter.

“Capturing more digital households is a key to our long-term growth model as these households are more loyal, spend nearly three times as much with us and drive our alternative profit businesses,” McMullen said.

Meanwhile, McMullen said Kroger Precision Marketing, the company’s retail media network, is on pace to meet full-year expectations of more than 20% growth. Kroger Precision Marketing added new capabilities with Meta on June 19, he said. It continues to “broaden its reach by offering its custom audiences and ad measurement capabilities to advertisers on the Meta social media platforms.”

McMullen said this will create more opportunities for clients to reach relevant audiences in more places.

Possible Kroger merger with Albertsons

McMullen told investors that Kroger believes its updated divestiture plan meets regulators’ concerns and will put the company in a better position to complete its merger with Albertsons.

Kroger and Albertsons announced in April a plan to sell grocery stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers. This came in response to a statement the Federal Trade Commission had released in late February calling the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger “anticompetitive” and suing to block the $24.6 billion acquisition.

McMullen said the proposed divestiture “positions C&S to be a strong and successful competitor.”

Albertsons ranks No. 24 in the Top 1000. C&S currently does not rank in the Top 1000.

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The drop resulted from fewer pickup sales — which include in-store, curbside, from lockers and drive-up — in May 2024 than in 2023. Pickup sales were also fewer than in April 2024 (and 2023, for that matter). May 2024 data was based on a survey of 1,724 adults in the United States, Brick Meets Click said.

Moreover, pickup sales dropped despite a 3% increase in overall monthly active users (MAUs), according to Brick Meets Click. The analytics firm attributed this to growth in MAUs to lapsed users buying online again in May.

“What pulled down monthly sales results was a 6% decline in order frequency combined with a slight decline in AOV,” Brick Meets Click said in a statement.

Brick Meets Click and Mercatus define the three receiving methods for online grocery sales as:

• Delivery: Includes orders received from a first- or third-party provider like Instacart, Shipt or the retailer’s own employees.
• Pickup: Includes orders received by customers either inside or outside a store or at a designated location/locker.
• Ship-to-home: Includes orders that are received via common or contract carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.

What impacted May online grocery sales?

Online grocery sales in May fell slightly, to $6.8 billion in 2024 from $6.9 billion in 2023.

“Customers appreciate the convenience of online grocery shopping, but they are increasingly looking for ways to save money as inflation has taken a toll on the household wallet,” said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth officer at Mercatus, in a statement. “While digital deals are a good start, it’s crucial to focus on more targeted, personalized, contextual offers based on past purchases, shopper profiles, preferences, or search behavior to better engage and retain customers.”

The largest receiving method, pickup, accounted for fewer online sales this May: $3.3 billion. That’s a 3.9% drop from $3.5 billion in May 2023.

The next-largest method, delivery, drew in the same amount of sales in May 2024 and 2023: $2.2 billion. The only method to generate an increase in sales was ship-to-home. It brought in $1.3 billion in May 2024, compared to $1.2 billion in 2023. That’s 9% growth.

“During May, Delivery benefited from deep discounts related to annual memberships offered first by Instacart (80% off) and later in the month by Walmart (50% off),” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click, in the statement. “These promotions likely drove Delivery’s strong jump in MAUs and show how players like Instacart and Walmart are attempting to keep active customers engaged by getting them to commit to 12 months instead of just one.”

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Advanced Spirits, a Houston beverage distillery and services company, has launched Barrel Hub, an ecommerce platform for the wholesale bulk whiskey market.

Rob Arnold, president, Advanced Spirits

Registered users can search the available inventory through familiar filter and sort features. Email notifications can be set so that users are notified when barrels of interest are listed for sale.

Each user also has their own account online, where they can log personal information, list inventory for sale, track active trades/bids, and review historical sales/purchases.

“From our soft launch, we know one of the most pressing questions that buyers and sellers have is around purchase price,” says Advanced Spirits president Rob Arnold. “What is the current value of this whiskey barrel?”

But he adds: “The lack of transparency in the wholesale bulk whiskey market makes this question hard to answer. Therefore, Barrel Hub has introduced a bid feature, so that buyers and sellers can collectively set fair market values.”

Each transaction includes a purchase agreement between a buyer and seller, in which buyers only send money to Barrel Hub, and sellers receive payment from Barrel Hub.

The latest Barrel Hub update is a digital tool for barrel verification. Sellers can send Barrel Hub a warehouse inventory report (for aged barrels) or supplier distillation forecast (for new fills) for the barrels they have listed, the company says.

If the specs in the report/forecast match the listings on Barrel Hub, then the entries will receive a green-colored verification check and automatically sort to the top section of the inventory page.

Barrel Hub has a long-term goal to make the wholesale bulk whiskey market more open and transparent.

To introduce more flavor-driven data, entries on Barrel Hub include details such as barrel entry proof, cooperage, wood type, warehouse location, and toast/char level. The company says buyers can also purchase samples on the site to assess quality and flavor directly.

“I was surprised to realize that barrels on the wholesale market often trade with relatively few details known to the buyer,” Arnold says. “Distiller, mash bill, whiskey type, and barrel fill date — these might be the only specifications known to the buyer. But there are so many other factors that influence flavor and the stories we tell our consumers.”

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To help its customers cut their downtime from broken kitchen and HVAC equipment, the food-service and HVAC parts distributor has more than doubled its same-day parts delivery service to a 50-mile radius — often within two hours — from over 130 locations across the United States.

Parts Town is providing the expanded service through a strategic partnership with Roadie, a UPS company specializing in logistics management. Roadie operates as a crowdsourced delivery platform providing last-mile deliveries.

Parts Town is using Roadie to let customers order original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts from over 130 Parts In Town stocking and service locations throughout the U.S. Parts In Town is an online marketplace on PartsTown.com where customers can purchase parts and services from the Parts Town service center nearest their facility.

The expanded same-day delivery service includes products ordered from Parts Town’s largest distribution center in its home base of Addison, Illinois, providing deliveries as fast as two hours to the entire city of Chicago, according to Roadie and Parts Town.

Increasing first-time fix rates

Parts Town says it developed the expedited deliveries with Roadie to support to help service technicians increase their number of “first-time fix rates” and decrease the amount of equipment downtime for customers.

Emanuela Delgado, group vice president of the revolution, growth and innovation, Parts Town

“The expansion of our same-day delivery radius is a step change in the ultra-fast accessibility of OEM parts locally,” says Emanuela Delgado, who has the dual title of Group Vice President of The Revolution and GVP of Growth and Innovation, Parts Town Unlimited. “This partnership is the latest example of our commitment to not only ensuring genuine OEM parts reach our customers quickly and seamlessly but also to providing tools for service technicians and our end-user customers to increase first-time fix rates and reduce equipment downtime.”

Over the past several years, Parts Town has worked to build a reputation for innovation through such technology and services as its AI-powered PartPredictor tool for helping customers proactively manage equipment repairs with replacement parts; a mobile app for placing and tracking orders and accessing manuals; and a robotics-driven automated distribution system.

Parts Town reported $2.3 billion in revenue last year, up from $1.8 billion in 2022.

“We’re a distribution company, but we’re really more of a digital technology company that has distribution,” Delgado has said.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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The companies detailed their new deal in a May 21 announcement.

Ibotta also works with retail brands Family Dollar and Dollar General on digital offers and rewards. It touts its ability to deliver coordinated promotions across retailer platforms, large third-party publisher sites and Ibotta’s direct-to-consumer properties.

Family Dollar is owned by Dollar Tree, which is No. 176 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Dollar General is No. 697. Digital Commerce 360 categorizes both retailers in the Mass Merchant category.

Schnucks omnichannel offers and rewards through Ibotta

“Schnucks is thrilled to partner with Ibotta, a leader in digital rewards, to expand savings for our customers through our Schnucks Rewards program,” said Tom Henry, chief data officer at Schnucks, in a released statement. “Through this partnership, Schnucks customers will have access to a wider range of digital coupons in our Schnucks Rewards program, creating more value for customers with every in-store or online shop.”

Moreover, Schnucks and Ibotta plan to work together on strategic research and development, pursuing new shopping experiences for Schnucks customers.

“Together with Ibotta, Schnucks is committed to creating innovative retail solutions that will shape the future of grocery shopping,” Henry stated.

What Ibotta’s network provides

“Driven by Ibotta’s mission to make every purchase rewarding, we’re pleased to add Schnucks, one of the country’s most storied regional grocery brands, to the Ibotta Performance Network, to drive more value for their customers through personalized offers and rewards,” said Ibotta CEO and founder Bryan Leach. “Schnucks’ and Ibotta’s mutual track record of industry-leading innovation is a befitting foundation for our partnership to reimagine the grocery shopping experience of the future.”

Leach offered some details on the focus of the research and development goals underpinning the two companies’ future work.

“Together, we’ll collaborate to develop a more personalized, premium shopping experience for Schnucks customers,” he explained.

Looking ahead, they intend to explore new types of digital offers in retail media. In addition, they will look to create “innovative touchpoints in-store,” according to the announcement.

New promotions for Schnucks customers will begin to roll out before the end of 2024, according to Ibotta. The company claims its network already reaches more than 200 million consumers and has been responsible for $1.8 billion in earned rewards since 2012.

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The post Schnucks and Ibotta partner on omnichannel offers and digital rewards appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.