Dive Brief:

• Online convenience retailer goPuff announced Tuesday it has added a better-for-you category to its digital storefront.
• The company, which offers 30-minute delivery for just under $2 in more than 500 cities, now stocks hundreds of food, snacks, vitamins, home and beauty products centered on health. The announcement follows goPuff’s recent expansion of its baby category along with the launch of beauty and local product assortments.
• GoPuff is joining retailers keying in on health at the beginning of the year as it aims to expand small-basket, impulse-driven online shopping across the U.S.

Dive Insight:

GoPuff continues to expand its assortment into more categories that overlap with grocery stores. The company’s latest extension includes popular choices like Halo Top ice cream, Annie’s macaroni and cheese and Healthy Choice frozen meals that are driving sales among health-conscious, high-value shoppers.

The better-for-you assortment furthers goPuff’s mainstream ambitions as it moves beyond delivering late-night snacks and drinks in college towns and into major metropolitan regions. GoPuff has more than tripled its footprint over the last two years and in October received $380 million in new funding atop a $3.9 billion valuation. It has also recently added executives from Uber, Lowe’s and TripAdvisor to its ranks.

In November, goPuff announced plans to acquire alcoholic beverage retailer BevMo for $350 million.

Although goPuff isn’t challenging the large orders grocers currently specialize in, its expansion is siphoning off small-basket orders and training consumers to expect cheaper, more frequent online shops. Millions of consumers have embraced online shopping during the pandemic — a space where brand loyalty can go out the window with just a few clicks, and where not everyone will want to pay a $30 minimum to get their food delivered same-day. GoPuff requires a $10.95 order minimum and has a membership program that waives delivery fees for $5.95 a month.

Convenience retailers have embraced online ordering of late, with brands like 7-Eleven increasing their same-day service. Last summer, DoorDash launched Dashmart, an online competitor to goPuff that currently delivers from dark stores in several U.S. cities.