There’s a reason HEB has an ad campaign called “ my HEB.” Naturally, we as consumers tend to feel a personal connection to our grocery stores of choice. Some call that “brand affinity.” But how has grocery delivery service affected our deep ties to “my HEB” and our other neighborhood grocers?
Now making up two percent of the $675 billion grocery industry in the U.S., online delivery companies like Burpy, Instacart, and Shipt) offered throughout Austin have generated major waves.
Thinking of the effect the third party delivery services have on the retailer, Burpy owner Aseem Ali launched a second delivery startup, independent of Burpy, to provide a white label enterprise solution, bringing the grocer branding forward and out of hiding behind the third-party delivery apps.
ReadyCart.co launched earlier this year, returning the control to the retailers by taking their in-store experience online while providing valuable consumer data.
The deliveries from ReadyCart will appear to come directly from the grocer through the branding of the ordering and delivery. However, Techstars' grad Burpy will continue as is as a third-party delivery service.
Retailers will be able to infiltrate their own brand into the virtual ordering reality and take advantage of a full-service end-to-end e-commerce solution through ReadyCart.co with digital marketing, crowdsourced delivery technology and support, and backend data and analytics through ReadyCart’s customer data portal.
“We create all of it, but we brand it as the retailer,” said Shep Kowalski, ReadyCart’s Director of Sales and Business Development.
Ali birthed the idea for ReadyCart after noticing this removed brand affinity and lack of consumer data insight for the retailers. While Burpy.com is strictly for consumers, Ali offers ReadyCart to the retailers. The link between the two, aside from Ali, is the unique ability to test new features on the 4-year-old Burpy platform before offering it to the businesses on ReadyCart."While partnering with platforms like Instacart or Shipt may enable retailer's to sell their products online, they may in-fact be fueling their next biggest competitor. In contrast, we aim to empower retailers, bringing their in-store experience online to create a truly omni-channel interaction for the end consumer," said Ali.
With Burpy’s positive cash flow since 2012, ReadyCart has been boostrapped with no plans for extra funding, according to Kowalski.
ReadyCart launched in April of this year and is slated to go live with their first client, Travis Heights Beverage World, on Aug. 18. Headquartered out of the Techstars office on Congress Ave., they have a team of 15 employees split between Austin, Houston and India, and will focus this year on growing their customer base in grocery space, while also looking at liquor stores and convenience stores.
Images provided by ReadyCart and Shutterstock.
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