A DoorDash sign is pictured on a restaurant on the day they hold their IPO in New York, December 9, 2020.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
DoorDash announced Monday it’s partnering with Albertsons Companies to offer on-demand grocery delivery from nearly 2,000 of Albertson’s stores, including Safeway, Vons and Jewel-Osco.
The partnership shows how DoorDash can help grocery stores like Albertsons compete with Amazon and Walmart, which currently lead the online grocery delivery market.
DoorDash shares were up more than 2% Monday morning, while Albertsons gained more than 1%.
“As expectations for convenience, speed and ease continue to grow, consumers can now order
groceries and essentials on-demand for delivery within an hour through DoorDash’s top-rated marketplace with no time slot, queues or minimum order size required,” the company said in a release. Albertsons will offer more than 40,000 grocery items from stores for delivery.
The companies said the partnership includes a new custom loyalty program, expanded delivery hours, a meal kit offering, prepared meals and specialty items.
Customers in select markets can order groceries through their local Albertsons store’s website for same-day delivery. The service is powered by DoorDash Drive, the company’s white-label fulfillment platform that provides direct delivery for any business.
Food and grocery delivery has been a bright spot during the coronavirus pandemic, with people limiting their time outside of the home. The pandemic reinforced online buying behaviors in a high proportion of shoppers, according to Coresight Research.
Over one-quarter of shoppers said that they plan to buy groceries online more frequently, according to the firm’s U.S. online grocery survey conducted in April.
“Consumers’ desire to get everything in their neighborhood on-demand has increased dramatically,” Fuad Hannon, head of New Verticals at DoorDash, said in a statement.
That’s led companies to expand from restaurant-to-home delivery, in an effort to get in on the growing grocery delivery market. Earlier Monday, Uber also announced it was acquiring the remaining 47% interest in grocery delivery start-up Cornershop in an all-stock transaction.
