Today the focus on home delivery is taking centre stage in the convenience sector. When independently owned convenience stores began seeking ways to shift to home delivery amid the lockdowns, many turned to Snappy Shopper.
“To be able to deliver essential grocery items within 15 minutes to customers is very appealing,” said Dave Peacock, owner of Mercer Way Stores in Romsey near Southampton.
“If you are a customer in the neighbourhood of one of the 950 stores using the Snappy Shopper platform, you can now call on a store like mine and we will promise to deliver your order in less than 60 minutes. In a high number of instances this delivery happens in 10-15 minutes. Home delivery is a great way to maximise my sales and get basket spend up.”
The rapid growth of the Snappy Shopper app can be attributed to the speedy work of localised convenience stores. “During Covid, everything changed,” said Peacock. “I wanted to offer a home delivery service for years and at the beginning of the lockdown last year we started to do our own deliveries.
Demand from our local customers demonstrated its potential and since I joined Snappy Shopper in June, it’s been ticking along very well. There is now a good appetite for home deliveries and we are already up to doing nearly 20 deliveries a day.”
The sudden surge in customers opting to have their groceries delivered to their homes has not caught Snappy Shopper unawares.
Mike Callachan, Chief Executive Officer of The Snappy Group, said: “The way we do our grocery shopping has evolved. Consumers realise that driving to the supermarket isn’t the quickest option anymore and instead it is far better to be able to order online and get someone else to deliver quickly. We see a real need in the market to help local stores get online.”
And local independent stores have responded strongly to home delivery.
“Snappy Shopper helps independent retailers make the shift to online delivery easier. I always wanted to offer home delivery as a service and decided to join Snappy Shopper for the ease of integration complete with the marketing and service tools they provide, all specifically tailored to independent retailers.
“Home delivery will be a profitable part of my business. Snappy Shopper has the app and the technical experience and I have the local customer knowledge and the delivery capability. It makes sense to utilise the relationship to its best so we both benefit. It’s a great partnership,” said Peacock.
When a store is added onto Snappy Shopper’s platform, the company handles all the digital marketing. According to Callachan, Snappy Shopper runs ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, within a 3-mile radius of a store’s location. These local ads are part of the reason why retailers like Dave Peacock have quickly seen a huge jump in customers ordering from the Snappy Shopper app. His store is getting online business from not only his usual customers but also everyone else in the local area that sees the Facebook ads.
All stores have to be concerned with is processing, picking and delivering the orders. The speed of delivery depends on distance, but customers can receive their orders in less than 60 minutes.
Callachan adds that 15% of stores in the convenience sector offer home delivery through a third-party app*.“Consumers are habit-forming and now are used to ordering groceries online after doing it for months and experiencing its convenience,” he said.
“We are delighted to see how quickly Dave and his team at Mercer Way Stores have grown their Snappy Shopper business and hitting average delivered sales in excess of £2,000 a week. We pride ourselves on retailer engagement and making it easy for independent retailers to work with us. We specifically help local stores adjust to that shift.”
In regards to technical support and customer service, Peacock said there have been no issues with Snappy Shopper. “Snappy Shopper positions themselves as a platform for independent retailers like me. They benefit from having happy customers in the same way we do,” Peacock concluded.
