Grocery delivery and curbside pickup have become the latest competitive arenas in supermarket retail, and regional player Tops Friendly Markets has joined the fray. The 169-store chain, with locations in New York, Vermont and northern Pennsylvania, built on its existing relationship with Instacart to offer curbside pickup at three locations in western New York State beginning Oct. 7, 2018. The retailer also has added organic products to its online offerings, including its Full Circle private label brand of natural and organic items.
Tops launched its online ordering and delivery service in partnership with Instacart in November 2017, and expanded the service in June 2018 to cover approximately 75% of its stores, according to Supermarket News.
Several of the supermarket vertical’s largest players have been beefing up delivery options, expanding their organic and natural offerings and seeking new customer touch points:
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• Earlier in October, Kroger announced a pilot that would enable customers to pick up their online orders and shop for private label brands at 13 Walgreens stores in the northern Kentucky area;
• In September, Walmart announced plans to open a pickup-only store in the Chicago area in spring 2019;
• Aldi expanded grocery delivery to all U.S. locations; and
• Albertsons partnered with Instacart to offer nearly 3,800 organic and natural items for delivery via its O Organics Market site in July.
