Co-Opportunity Market, operator of two community-owned grocery stores in Santa Monica and Culver City, Calif., has launched a mobile e-Commerce platform based on technology from Local Express. The new mobile platform, accessible through a mobile app or the Web, facilitates online ordering for curbside pickup, buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and home delivery.
Co-Opportunity previously offered home delivery through Instacart but not curbside pickup or BOPIS, two services that have grown in popularity as consumers seek to avoid COVID-19 exposure while retailers in the Los Angeles area adhere to safety and social distancing protocols issued by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“We wanted to meet demand by giving customers another convenient shopping option,” said Lena Tito, Director of Marketing at Co-Opportunity in a statement. From an operations perspective, “it was crucial that we find a comprehensive pickup digital shopping solution that interfaced with our point-of-sale (POS) platform,” she added.
The Local Express solution is designed to allow retailers to manage their online business in-house and control the complete process, from ordering to fulfillment to pickup. Retailer management tools include POS integration, reporting, analytics and delivery tracking. The Local Express platform also helps retailers connect with multiple home-delivery services, and Co-Opportunity is considering adding to its Instacart offering, according to a spokesperson.
Advertisement
“This is so important right now, when shoppers are demanding many more store pickup and delivery options,” said Bagrat Safarian, Co-Founder of Local Express in a statement.
