Groceryshop day 2: discounts, delivery, and drones

On day two of Groceryshop, there was a surprise celebrity appearance by Cheetos mascot Chester Cheetah, a brief cats vs. dogs debate on the main stage, and a surprising fact about flying chickens (more on that later), but let’s jump into the non-animal related happenings.

Mario Mijares, VP of insights, loyalty, marketing and monetization platforms at 7-Eleven, taught us a new phrase: “zombie discounts.” What’s a zombie discount, you ask? It’s essentially when shoppers earn loyalty points and score deals without knowing it, something 7-Eleven is trying to avoid. Mijares said 7-Eleven wants consumers to feel like they’re “in control” of the points they’re earning and be curious about how to earn them, which gets them to open their emails and use the 7-Eleven app more often.

Uber’s Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, SVP of delivery, similarly touched on Uber Eats’s efforts to establish “value in the grocery experience.” He said Uber Eats will allow SNAP recipients to use their benefits to purchase groceries via the app starting next year, offering “greater flexibility” for consumers who are unable to make it to brick-and-mortar stores, and will also allow Medicare and Medicaid recipients to pay using FSA Cards and Flex Cards. The company is also introducing Uber Eats Sales Aisle to help shoppers more easily snag deals, and an AI assistant that can help budget-conscious consumers build their baskets.

Rival DoorDash touched on its latest news as well, when VP of New Business Verticals Fuad Hannon detailed new grocery partnerships including with Eataly and Lowe’s Markets. The platform now reaches 100,000+ non-restaurant merchants, part of an effort to “bring all of local commerce online,” Hannon said.

And Walmart dug into its own delivery strategy. SVP of end-to-end delivery Jennifer McKeehan talked about the retailer’s new late-night delivery option introduced last week, which she said is part of Walmart’s “people-led, tech-enabled,” motto; it will service the new offering through its micro-fulfillment centers. Walmart also continues to grow its drone business, she said, and has completed 10,000 deliveries across seven states. And that strange fact about chickens came courtesy of McKeehan, who said rotisserie chicken is one of the most popular items ordered via drone delivery in recent months (it’s still hot when it arrives, she assured the audience).