The grocery segment is grappling with the same profitability concerns as the restaurant space as delivery continues grabbing a larger share of the pie. Consulting firm McKinsey explored the challenges and opportunities in a new report on the grocery industry, making a strong case for new models and deeper technology penetration. Authors John Barbee, Raoul Dubeauclard, Kyle Jensen and Julia Spielvogel, all partners and consultants at the firm, laid out the problem succinctly. “While omnichannel continues to offer added convenience for consumers, profitability remains a challenge for grocery retailers,” read […]
Deliverect raised $150M in a Series D after hitting the milestone of 100 million orders processed.
Maker Kitchens builds secured, individual spaces aimed at virtual restaurants and food makers selling their products directly to consumers.
Last-mile delivery is a place of explosive innovation, but DroneDek is thinking ahead to the future of the last two feet. The company has created a smart mailbox. It’s loaded with sensors and cameras, UV lights for disinfecting packages, flashing strobes for emergency situations, as well as heating and cooling elements to maintain food or sensitive retail goods. It also has GPS and an API for drones to find and connect to the device. As founder and CEO Dan O’Toole said, the mailbox was ripe for innovation. “It’s the next-gen […]
Incremental is the word used all across the food delivery space. Third-party aggregators promise orders that restaurants never would have seen. It’s largely proven to be accurate, but Club Feast was built on the idea of creating incremental revenue on top of incremental orders. Club Feast is one of the second-wave delivery platforms that are growing in key markets across the United States. It launched in July of 2020 with a core differentiation: forcing diners to plan ahead. Consumers are required to order either the night before or several hours […]
New York City announced a raft of new regulations aimed at protecting couriers and giving them more control over their earnings. The regulations will come into effect over the course of 2022.
Del Taco opened its first Fresh Flex store that puts third-party delivery and customer pickup front and center with dedicated drive-thru lanes.
Uber announced a partnership with Smart & Final Stores to expand its on-demand and scheduled grocery delivery to customers on the West Coast.
Muncho, an early-stage pizza delivery startup in Philadelphia, is using oven-equipped vans to cook pizzas while en route to customers’ houses. With plans to add more advanced cooking tech and an owner-operator model to scale up to additional neighborhoods, early trials are attracting repeat customers and thrilling them with steaming-hot pizzas that can arrive in less than 10 minutes. Founder Adam Chain, who graduated from Pennsylvania State University with an economics degree in 2015, said Muncho’s genesis came from ordering a pizza during the halftime of a football game—and it […]
Serve Robotics has deployed robots that are the first autonomous vehicles to complete commercial deliveries at Level 4 autonomy.
