Outsourcing Delivery- Do or Don’t?

As I mentioned in my last post, grocery delivery services have quickly grown in popularity over the past year. Some stores choose to handle this in-house, but some chains have looked to third-party services for help in this sector. Outsourcing grocery delivery saves stores time and money but comes at a cost.

The main advantage of utilizing third-party services is that order fulfillment and delivery are no longer their responsibility, yet they are still able to move products. Some smaller stores may not have the resources to operate their own services, so outsourcing is the only option if they want their products available over the web. Another advantage is the additional customers grocery stores receive from being a part of these platforms. Apps such as Instacart and Shipt partner with a wide range of grocers, so those that do not join the platform may be looked over in favor of their competitors.

A major downside with outsourcing delivery is the potential loss of customer loyalty due to a loss of customer experience. Customers do not have any sort of “in-store” experience when using apps such as Instacart, so which store they choose to purchase from is much less significant in comparison to when they are physically shopping. If a certain store does not have a particular product, they may choose to try a different grocer through the app. Therefore, outsourcing grocery delivery also outsources customer experience.