Dive Brief:
- The Save Mart Companies’ banners — Save Mart, Lucky and FoodMaxx — became available on DoorDash on Thursday, according to a press release.
- Participating stores will be available through DoorDash’s membership program, DashPass. In addition, consumers will soon be able to buy SNAP-eligible grocery items with their SNAP/EBT card from stores under the banners through DoorDash’s system, the press release noted.
- The DoorDash partnership builds on Save Mart’s efforts to expand its reach through third-party delivery providers.
Dive Insight:
The timing of the announcement comes on the heels of the winter holidays, and DoorDash and Save Mart have a deal — up to 30% off DoorDash delivery orders from the banners between Nov. 17 and Nov. 23 — tied to Thanksgiving to incentivize customers to try out the option.
DoorDash joins The Save Mart Companies’ list of other third-party delivery providers, including Amazon, Instacart and Uber, which it linked up with in September. The Save Mart Companies operates 194 Save Mart, Lucky and FoodMaxx stores in California and Nevada.
Linking up with DoorDash is another move by the grocery operator to form partnerships that will help it go toe-to-toe with larger grocers.
Over the past year, The Save Mart Companies has announced tie-ups with SymphonyAI to deepen shopper insights and boost CPG relationships, retail technology supplier Swiftly to create a retail media network and startup Fulfil Solutions to provide a fleet of robots for an automated dark store.
Since launching on-demand grocery delivery in 2020, DoorDash has worked to build partnerships with grocers as it competes with Instacart, Uber Eats and grocers’ in-house e-commerce services. In September, DoorDash announced eight new grocery partners, including Cub, Eataly, El Super and Stater Bros. Markets.
DoorDash is “really pleased” with the performance of its grocery business, CFO Ravi Inukonda told investors during the company’s third-quarter earnings call earlier this month, per a Motley Fool transcript. The total dollar value of grocery orders placed on its marketplace has doubled year-on-year, Inukonda said.
Inukonda said DoorDash has been focusing in recent years on increasing customer adoption and usage with its grocery business, noting that the company sees its network of customers and workers as strategic advantages to improve its unit economics
“Our goal is to continue to invest behind improving selection, improving the product quality because our strong belief is that this is going to be a strong long-term ROI generating business for us,” Inukonda said in response to an analyst’s question about the company’s grocery vertical.
