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Instacart Acquires FoodStorm, Introduces New Prepared Meals and Order-Ahead Enterprise Technology Solution for Retailers Across North America


Instacart Will Integrate FoodStorm’s Technology into Its Leading Enterprise Offering, Enabling Retail Partners to Automate Their Catering and Prepared Foods Operations & Provide Customers with a More Seamless Grocery Meals Experience 

FoodStorm’s Talented Team Will Join Instacart as Part of the Acquisition

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 8, 2021 — Instacart, the leading online grocery platform in North America, today announced its acquisition of FoodStorm, a SaaS order management system (OMS) that powers end-to-end order-ahead and catering experiences for grocery retailers. With this acquisition, Instacart is expanding its enterprise technology portfolio to further support its retail partners’ ecommerce needs, investing in more innovative technology solutions that help retailers grow, compete, and better meet the evolving needs of their customers. 

The process for ordering prepared foods from grocers typically requires customers to call the store or place an order in-person – a labor-intensive and inefficient process that often results in both missed sales opportunities for retailers and a cumbersome customer experience. FoodStorm helps solve this problem by creating a more seamless experience for both retailers and customers. FoodStorm has developed a comprehensive SaaS offering that covers multi-channel ordering – ecommerce, phone or in-store kiosk – order management, and payment and fulfillment. Its technology also integrates easily with a large variety of third-party systems including point of sale systems (POS) and offers customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities that help grocers collect feedback, market their offerings and leverage promotional features. 

FoodStorm was founded 14 years ago and has developed strong partnerships with a number of Instacart’s existing retail partners including Albertsons Companies banners Balducci’s and Kings Food Markets, as well as Bi-Rite Market, Mollie Stone’s Markets, Uncle Giuseppe’s and Roche Brothers Supermarkets. Looking ahead, Instacart will make FoodStorm’s technology available to more retailers through Instacart’s leading enterprise technology offering. In addition to acquiring FoodStorm’s technology and tools, Instacart is also excited to welcome the talented FoodStorm team, which is based in the U.S. and Melbourne, Australia to Instacart.

"As a retailer enablement platform, Instacart is focused on growing our partners’ businesses by investing in innovative new technologies and services that deliver significant value to them and their customers," said Mark Schaaf, Chief Technology Officer, Instacart. "Our goal is to help our retail partners increase their sales and ensure more of their customers’ everyday meals come from the grocery store. That’s why we’re excited to welcome the talented FoodStorm team to Instacart and integrate their end-to-end order-ahead and catering platform into Instacart’s leading enterprise offering. For retailers, this new enterprise solution helps them bring even more of their inventory online, enhance their ecommerce capabilities, grow their business and meet the evolving needs of their customers. And, for customers, this unlocks a healthier, more affordable alternative to restaurant delivery – creating an easier way for people to order prepared foods online directly from their favorite grocers." 

Order-ahead technology solutions provide grocery retailers with a significant growth opportunity. On the Instacart platform, customers who purchase prepared foods and catering items like hot and cold side dishes, cakes and sushi from the grocery store have significantly larger baskets and shop more frequently than those customers who do not. For retailers, order-ahead items and prepared foods are also typically more profitable than traditional groceries like produce and package goods.  

"I’m incredibly proud of what the FoodStorm team has achieved for our partners. We’ve developed market-leading software that makes it easier for grocers to execute on prepared food and catering orders more efficiently, and track everything from one central location. This is a huge growth opportunity for grocers, and we’ve seen increased demand for our products as more customers are searching for seamless online and in-store ordering capabilities," said FoodStorm CEO Rob Hill. "Grocery is an incredibly complex retail category, making the need for enterprise-grade solutions like FoodStorm and Instacart critical to the long-term success of the industry we all rely on to put food on our tables. We’re excited about this next chapter as we join the Instacart team and create new ways for retailers to serve the ever-changing needs of their businesses and customers." 

"Delivering a world-class customer experience and excellent prepared foods is the mission of our business, and FoodStorm and Instacart have helped us do just that," said Russell McVeigh, Catering Director at Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace. "Once we deployed FoodStorm’s technology, online sales doubled and we were able to be more innovative with our menus because of the increased visibility FoodStorm’s platform provides. Both FoodStorm and Instacart have been critical to our growth and ability to serve our customers, and we’re excited to see what compelling enterprise products they’ll develop together."

"Both Instacart and FoodStorm have been important partners in bringing our business online and have opened up brand new sales and customer service channels for us," said Adam Laliberte, Director of Food Services at Roche Brothers Supermarkets. "Before FoodStorm, our software systems weren’t compatible with our catering needs and we had a limited online presence which meant we were missing out on a huge opportunity. Because of Foodstorm’s flexible and easily configurable technology, we’ve seen an increase in our catering business and have the ability to manage this increase more efficiently so that our teams can focus more on our customers. I’m thrilled that they are now joining forces with Instacart and we’re excited to see what enterprise offerings they’ll bring to market together."

Instacart’s enterprise technology today powers the comprehensive ecommerce platforms of more than 175 local, regional and national grocers across North America, including Costco Canada, Heinen’s, Sprouts, The Fresh Market, and Wegmans. Instacart first began offering enterprise technology to grocery partners in 2017. Since then, the company has continued to make significant investments in its enterprise business, scaling its engineering team and developing new technologies for grocers.  

About Instacart 
Instacart is the leading online grocery platform in North America. Instacart shoppers offer same-day delivery and pickup services to bring fresh groceries and everyday essentials to busy people and families across the U.S. and Canada. Instacart has partnered with more than 600 beloved national, regional and local retailers, including unique brand names, to deliver from nearly 55,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. Instacart’s platform is available to over 85% of U.S. households and 80% of Canadian households. The company’s cutting-edge enterprise technology also powers the ecommerce platforms of some of the world’s biggest retail players, supporting their white-label websites, applications and delivery solutions. Instacart offers an Instacart Express membership that includes reduced service fees and unlimited free delivery on orders over $35. For more information, visit www.instacart.com. For anyone interested in becoming an Instacart shopper, visit https://shoppers.instacart.com/.

Instacart Acquires FoodStorm
Instacart Acquires FoodStorm

 

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Related Links :

http://www.instacart.com

Dada Group and CP Group Retail Division Partner to Provide Omni-channel On-demand Delivery Services for CP Lotus and CP Fresh Mart

SHANGHAI, Aug. 20, 2021 — Dada Group (Nasdaq: DADA), China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform, and Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group)’s Retail Business Division, today announced a partnership to provide omni-channel on-demand delivery services for CP Group’s CP Lotus, a leading supermarket chain, and CP Fresh Mart, a community-based supermarket in China. CP Group is one of the world’s most influential multinational company operating by ethnic Chinese.

A Dada Now rider takes online orders for delivery at a CP Lotus store in Beijing
A Dada Now rider takes online orders for delivery at a CP Lotus store in Beijing

Dada Now, Dada’s on-demand delivery platform, launched a customized service program "Dedicated Delivery" for chain merchants. This program provides a "stationed + crowdsourcing" delivery model and services. Through the cooperation, the service will be adopted in CP Lotus and CP Fresh Mart’s stores, covering Beijing, Zhengzhou and Chongqing in the first round.

CP Lotus and CP Fresh Mart stores started to launch on JDDJ (JD Daojia), the on-demand retail platform of Dada Group, in 2016 and 2017 respectively, while Dada Now has provided on-demand delivery and online order fulfillment services. Under the cooperation, besides orders from JDDJ, Dada Now will fulfill online orders from WeChat mini program and third-party grocery platform. The cooperation will further expand to more categories and businesses, and improve order fulfillment efficiency in more regions throughout the country.

According to JDDJ data, in the first half of 2021, CP Lotus’ sales on JDDJ increased by over 1.5 times year-on-year. The average delivery time for CP Lotus and Fresh Mart’s online orders on JDDJ was about 40 minutes from January 1st to July 31st, 2021.

Mr. Liu Liu, President of the Retail Business Department at CP Group Head Office, said that Dada Group has fully demonstrated its powerful strengths in online operations. Through its retail empowerment strategy, Dada Group improves consumers’ online shopping experience by creating better online consumption platform and providing omni-channel order fulfillment. In terms of retail business, CP Group will leverage strengths in the "from the farm to the table" across its full industry chain, community business and services, and partner with Dada Group to offer better online and offline consumption services, facilitate the development of O2O business, put consumer needs first, and provide solutions for diversified shopping scenarios.

Mr. Mingyang Zhu, Head of Key Account Business at Dada Now, said that as a well-known multinational company, CP Group has advanced retail operation strategy, and pioneered in diverse retail ecosystem. Its established community retail experience system is getting stronger, striving to become the closest partner in consumer’s family life.  Dada Now will assist CP Group in establishing the community retail experience system with high delivery efficiency and lower costs, by leveraging innovations in delivery models and technologies. Working together, Dada Group and CP Group will provide consumers with a more convenient and efficient shopping experience.

About Dada Group

Dada Group is a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in China. It operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. The company’s two platforms are inter-connected and mutually beneficial. The Dada Now platform enables improved delivery experience for participants on the JDDJ platform through its readily accessible fulfillment solutions and strong on-demand delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile, the vast volume of on-demand delivery orders from the JDDJ platform increases order volume and density for the Dada Now platform. In June 2020, Dada Group began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the ticker symbol "DADA."

About CP Group

Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) is one of the largest ethnic Chinese multinational companies in the world. Its vision is to be the kitchen of the world and energy for human beings. Its retail business has hundreds of CP Fresh Mart, more than 100 CP Lotus and nearly 10000 CP Food direct-sale stores in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Qingdao, Lanzhou and other cities in China. CP Group is continuously expanding its geographic scope of online and offline retail business.

Related Links :

http://imdada.cn

Dada Group secures necessities supply in Shijiazhuang during COVID-19 outbreak — Chinese National TV Reported

SHANGHAI, Jan. 25, 2021 — Dada Group (Nasdaq: DADA) ("Dada" or the "Company"), China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform, is working with retailers and brands to provide safe, contactless on-demand delivery service in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, to combat with the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Recently, thousands of Dada Now riders in Shijiazhuang worked flat out to ensure the stable supply of daily necessities to residents. Their efforts were reported by Chinese National TV, and other mainstream media across the country.

Dada Now riders in Shijiazhuang
Dada Now riders in Shijiazhuang

According to National TV’s coverage, in accordance with the requirements of the local governments, Shijiazhuang’s supermarkets suspended offline operations and transferred to online business, which taking online orders and providing contactless delivery, to ensure the people’s daily necessities while staying home. During the lockdown period, riders of Dada Now, Dada Group’s on-demand delivery platform, were working to deliver daily necessities from supermarkets to the residents. Peng Sun is one of these Dada Now riders.

Since the latest COVID-19 ourbreak in Shijiazhuang, Peng Sun took a second nucleic acid test required by Dada Now platform. After receiving the healthy result on the second day, he started to deliver daily necessities to residents. As supermarket O2O business adopted by increasing number of consumers, delivery orders grew exponentially. He worked tirelessly to deliver products everyday: "I was on my way even at late 10 p.m. I am proud of myself, because I contribute to fight against COVID-19."

Dada Group is one of 51 necessities supply enterprises guaranteed and recommended by Shijiazhuang government. JDDJ and Dada Now have played a kay role in ensuring daily supply and safe delivery. On January 11, JDDJ collaborated with nearly 20 supermarket chains in Shijiazhuang, including Beiguo Supermarket, Yonghui Supermarket, CR Vanguard and Olé, as well as local pharmacies including Shiyao Pharmacy, Hebei Lerentang Pharmacy and Shineway Pharmacy, to guarantee the daily supply of living products.

At the same time, Dada Now launched the emergency measures, opened a green channel for delivery riders to appeal abnormal situations, and extended the delivery time. The platform also launched its contactless delivery service and riders’ health code authentication, while arranging secondary nucleic acid testing for riders and providing them with disinfectant, masks and other epidemic prevention equipment to ensure the safety of riders, merchants and consumers. Besides, Dada Now also required riders to wear masks and disinfection protection during the delivery through the Dada Now’s Rider Application and the Wechat groups.

In January, Dada Group announced that Dada Now and JDDJ would stay open during Chinese New Year in February. And the two platforms will maintain safety measures to ensure stable and quick services.

About Dada Group

Dada Group is a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in China. It operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. The Company’s two platforms are inter-connected and mutually beneficial. The Dada Now platform enables improved delivery experience for participants on the JDDJ platform through its readily accessible fulfillment solutions and strong on-demand delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile, the vast volume of on-demand delivery orders from the JDDJ platform increases order volume and density for the Dada Now platform. In June 2020, Dada Group began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the ticker symbol "DADA."

Related Links :

http://imdada.cn

Dada Group’s JDDJ Announces New Partnerships with More Than 20 Leading Regional Supermarket Chains in China

SHANGHAI, Jan. 15, 2021 — Dada Group (Nasdaq: DADA) ("Dada" or the "Company"), China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform, announced that Dada’s local on-demand retail platform, JD Daojia ("JDDJ") has accelerated its geographic expansion into lower-tier markets and established new partnerships with more than 20 regional supermarket leaders including Ouya Supermarket, Zhenhua Supermarket, Sanhe Supermarket, Zhebei Supermarket, Guihe Supermarket and Sifang Street in late 2020.

With the formation of these agreements, JDDJ have established partnerships with more than 2/3 of the Top 100 supermarket chains in China. In addition to signing new partnerships in 2020, JDDJ also strengthened existing partnerships with other leading retailers and grocers including Walmart, Yonghui Supermarket and CR Vanguard. JDDJ ranks first in market share for supermarket O2O platforms in China and has helped consumers across the country enjoy quality products and reliable one-hour delivery services.

JDDJ's posters at a Zhenhua Supermarket
JDDJ’s posters at a Zhenhua Supermarket

Huijian He, the Vice President of Dada Group, said, "The lower-tier market has become a major growth driver and an important part of our development strategy for JDDJ. The platform will continue to accelerate business expansion into lower-tier cities and establish partnerships with more of China’s top supermarkets and regional leaders to jointly develop the local on-demand retail market, bringing one-hour delivery to more consumers in lower-tier cities."

As of September 30, 2020, JDDJ’s local on-demand retail service covered approximately 1,200 cities and counties in China, and Dada Now, the local on-demand delivery platform, served more than 2,600 cities and counties. Leveraging its retail, logistics and digital empowerment capabilities, Dada Group has promoted digital transformation, empowering supermarkets and other retailers to help them achieve online-offline integration and improve sales. Since partnering with Dada in 2020, Ouya and Zhenhua have benefited greatly from their collaboration with Dada:

  • Ouya Supermarket: Dada’s Haibo system has also offered Ouya omni-channel digital solutions that integrate product management, user operation, fulfillment optimization, marketing events, and data boards. Moreover, Ouya’s membership service was launched on the JDDJ platform to synchronize the benefits of online and offline membership. To date, Ouya locations in Changchun, Jilin Province, have been integrated into JDDJ platform.
  • Zhenhua Supermarket: Dada and Zhenhua have collaborated on multiple initiatives including marketing events and product management. To date, Zhenhua’s stores in Qingdao and Yantai have been integrated on JDDJ and all stores in the Shandong Province, including those in Liaocheng, Weihai, Weifang, Linyi and Dongying, as well as stores in Hebei Province will launch on the platform by mid-2021.

Yuehua Shi, the General Manager of Zhenhua Supermarket, said, "Digitization is the prevailing trend of Chinese retail. Through JDDJ’s digital empowerment capabilities, Zhenhua Supermarket will further enhance its marketing campaign and product management, acquiring online users and achieving rapid growth through O2O channels. With our deep expertise in the market of Shandong Province, Zhenhua Supermarket looks forward to working with JDDJ to develop the local market and provide consumers with a more convenient on-demand shopping experience."

About Dada Group

Dada Group is a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in China. It operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. The Company’s two platforms are inter-connected and mutually beneficial. The Dada Now platform enables improved delivery experience for participants on the JDDJ platform through its readily accessible fulfillment solutions and strong on-demand delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile, the vast volume of on-demand delivery orders from the JDDJ platform increases order volume and density for the Dada Now platform. In June 2020, Dada Group began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the ticker symbol "DADA."

Related Links :

http://imdada.cn

Retail Tech Startup Tiliter Raises $7.5M for Cashierless AI Shopping Technology

Tiliter to increase global footprint as Investec invests through its IEC Australia Fund I

SYDNEY, Oct. 20, 2020 — Investor demand for innovative emerging companies remains strong with Australian AI tech startup Tiliter completing a $7.5 million capital raise, led by Investec Emerging Companies (IEC).

Eleanor Venture, a tech investment syndicate for angel investors, and New York’s Cornell University also participated in the funding round.

Tiliter is a leading artificial intelligence (AI) provider whose technology uses computer vision to recognise products without barcodes.

Its technology automatically identifies items, such as fresh produce, without the need for barcodes, packaging, and price stickers, making it easier for shoppers to manage during self-checkout.

Tiliter is currently focused on the Supermarket vertical and its camera and software system uses AI to pre-select items and remove the need for manual entry, with over 99% accuracy and in under one second.

Karen Chan, Head of Investec’s Emerging Companies division, said Tiliter aligned with the Fund’s philosophy of investing in companies with high growth potential backed by strong founders.

"We are excited to be working with the Tiliter team and believe this technology solves a very real need for both consumers and retailers in the Australian market and abroad," Chan said.

With retailers increasingly moving towards self-checkout and mobile-checkout options, Tiliter’s technology makes it easier and faster for customers to complete their transactions, reduces fraud, costs, and waste for businesses, and addresses the need for contactless purchases in a COVID-19 world. This can all be done with limited integration and no changes to the retailer’s IT infrastructure.

Tiliter was founded in 2017 by Marcel Herz, Martin Karafilis, and Chris Sampson. Commenting on the Tiliter team, Chan said, "The Tiliter co-founders are a visionary team, leveraging technology to solve the problems of the future.

"At IEC, we believe in acting as a true partner to our investee companies to provide advice, capital, and connectivity. We look forward to supporting the Tiliter team to reach their global growth aspirations."

Tiliter’s early adopters include Woolworths in Australia with over 20 live stores, Countdown in New Zealand, and several retail chains in the U.S., such as New York City’s Westside Market.

The company will use the latest funding to accelerate its expansion across Europe and the U.S., with many supermarkets to unveil Tiliter’s product recognition technology over the coming months.

CEO and co-founder of Tiliter Marcel Herz welcomed the funding from Investec and noted there had been a 300% increase in scan-and-go adoption in the U.S. over the past year due to COVID, and this growth is expected to rise globally.

"As an industry, we’re just at the beginning of how AI combined with computer vision will shape the future for brick-and-mortar and online shopping. It was important that we partner with investors that understand the new dynamics in retail innovation and the massive opportunity arising from this change," says Herz.

One factor many retail technology companies face is the cost and operational overhead to install and maintain their solutions.

"There has been an increased focus for Tiliter to create a plug-and-play solution for retailers and remove the operational friction of adopting cashier-less technology, particularly during the COVID pandemic," says Martin Karafilis, COO and co-founder of Tiliter.

"The end-to-end capability of Tiliter’s dedicated hardware and software is an example of how Tiliter’s recognition technology can be easily installed and used anywhere in the world at a lower cost than currently offered autonomous store solutions."

About Tiliter:

Tiliter makes software and hardware that uses computer vision to recognise products without barcodes. Tiliter is using machine learning and data analytic algorithms to disrupt industry practices and create the future now. For more information or to schedule a demo, visit www.tiliter.com or contact sales@tiliter.com

Media Contact: felicity.mullens@tiliter.com

About Investec Emerging Companies:

Investec Emerging Companies (IEC) is a division of Investec Australia. IEC partners with emerging companies to provide them with an integrated capital and advisory offering. The team partners with companies led by strong founders, with high growth potential and a demonstrated track record.

Media Contact: guy@honner.com.au

Related Images

tiliters-co-founders.jpg
Tiliter’s Co-Founders
Chris Sampson, Martin Karafilis and Marcel Herz (left to right)

Related Links

Tiliter

H-E-B and STRATACACHE Announce Expansion of Innovation Partnership


DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 20, 2020 — H-E-B, consistently rated one of the top grocery retailers in the US, and STRATACACHE, leaders in marketing technology and in-store customer experiences, today announced an expansion of a successful multi-year innovation partnership, focusing on delivering new actionable data and insights to create an even greater customer shopping experience.

H-E-B continuously seeks improvement to the customer shopping experience. Using sensor-based insights gathered from STRATACACHE’s Walkbase solution, H-E-B gains a richer understanding of the service level in their stores, and will use the actionable data to advance many aspects of the in-store shopping experience. With the expansion of the existing Walkbase advanced solution, H-E-B will gain an even richer understanding of how to better serve their customers.

"STRATACACHE has proved to be a valued innovation partner with a clear history of delivering customer-focused solutions," said Paul Tepfenhart, Senior Vice President of Omnichannel Commerce & Emerging Technology at H-E-B. "At H-E-B, we never stop looking for ways to improve our experience by providing the best customer and partner solutions. Our relationship with STRATACACHE moves us forward on this mission."

"H-E-B is a great retail partner to bring STRATACACHE’s customer insights solutions to stores. Well known for a laser focus on delivering the best customer experiences, H-E-B has made continuous investments in technology that directly optimize their customers’ journey, making it more relevant and more efficient," said Chris Riegel, CEO of STRATACACHE. "We have built a strong partnership over several years, and now H-E-B has new customer insights to better serve their customers."

Learn more about H-E-B at www.heb.com and STRATACACHE at www.stratacache.com.

About STRATACACHE
STRATACACHE delivers in-store retail experience transformation and exceptional customer journeys through a wide array of marketing technology. Our solutions enable retailers to learn deeply about their customers’ shopping preferences and behaviors, delivering targeted promotional or task-based messaging on any digital display. With 3.3 million+ software activations globally, we power the biggest digital networks for the world’s largest brands. Across the STRATACACHE family of complementary Marketing Technology solution companies, we have the technology, expertise and track record to bring retail innovation that delivers results. Learn more about the STRATACACHE family at www.stratacache.com, on Twitter @STRATACACHE or on Facebook.

About H-E-B
H-E-B, with sales of $28 billion, operates more than 400 stores in Texas and Mexico. Known for its innovation and community service, H-E-B celebrates its 115th anniversary this year. Recognized for its fresh food, quality products, convenient services, and a commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, H-E-B strives to provide the best customer experience and lowest prices. Based in San Antonio, H-E-B employs over 120,000 Partners in Texas and Mexico and serves millions of customers in more than 300 communities. For more information, visit HEB.com and HEB.com/Newsroom.

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Related Links :

http://www.stratacache.com