Dive Brief:

• Heinen’s announced Wednesday that it will no longer be available through Instacart’s marketplace starting next Wednesday. An Instacart spokesperson confirmed in an email its partnership with the grocer is ending. 
• The family-owned regional supermarket chain, which operates 23 stores in Northeast Ohio and the Chicago metropolitan area, will instead roll out a new mobile app and upgraded shopping platform. E-commerce orders will be fulfilled by Heinen’s associates. 
• The change comes at a time when grocers are reevaluating their relationships with third-party e-commerce marketplaces and beginning to roll out branded online services. 

Dive Insight:

Grocers have been steadily launching branded e-commerce sites and relying more on their own workers to fulfill online orders as digital demand has grown. But many have still continued to list their products on marketplaces run by companies like Instacart and DoorDash as a way of generating incremental demand.

Heinen’s, however, has decided it wants to fully control online ordering for its shoppers.

With the new e-commerce experience, Heinen’s said in its announcement that trained store associates will handle online order fulfillment. Curbside pickup service will be free, and alcohol and catering will be available for delivery or pickup at “most” stores. 

Heinen’s did not mention delivery fees or order minimums in the announcement about the new service, and did not say if its workers will deliver orders or if another third-party service will handle that task. The company noted that customers with questions or concerns about their online orders will be able to talk to their local Heinen’s store team or Heinen’s Customer Relations team.

Heinen’s did not respond to a media inquiry by the time of publication.

The grocer’s announcement stressed the importance of matching customer experiences in-store to online, from noting that pickers will “pack only the best quality groceries” to saying online customers can expect “the same service you expect from Heinen’s in store.”

“We strive to deliver exceptional customer service and want to be sure our loyal customers are the first to know about the exciting changes happening soon to our online grocery delivery and curbside pickup service,” Heinen’s said in the announcement. 

The announcement noted that the last day for customers to place orders from the grocery chain through Instacart will be next Tuesday.

Heinen’s launched delivery service with Instacart in 2017. Under the partnership, Heinen’s customers’ online orders were picked by Instacart workers, according to a Wayback Machine screengrab from Dec. 5, 2022, of Heinen’s online ordering FAQs.

An Instacart spokesperson said the e-commerce company will “continue to expand and deepen our relationship with beloved local retailers across the Midwest – including ALDI, Meijer and Fresh Thyme, among others – and enable retailers to offer the best possible e-commerce experience to their customers no matter how they chose to shop.”

The spokesperson noted that Instacart partners with more than 1,000 retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup from more than 75,000 stores across North America.

While third-party marketplaces like Instacart, DoorDash and Uber have grown their grocery offerings during the pandemic, some grocers have also launched their own branded e-commerce services — either ones built in-house or retailer-branded by a provider. Some grocers, including Cub Foods and SpartanNash, have third-party marketplace partnerships that coexist alongside branded offerings.  

Experts have said that grocers need to evaluate labor, speed and marketing when considering branded delivery solutions. Some industry observers have noted that providers like DoorDash and Instacart can help grocers offer speedy delivery and also bring in new customers.