Lou Perrine’s Gas and Grocery, FavTrip, Stop and Go Mini Mart, The Growler Guys and H&S Power Market will be the first to offer delivery through Vroom Delivery’s new convenience-focused third-party fulfillment program, serviced by the DoorDash network. Several additional retailers on the Vroom Platform are expected to roll out the program within the next month.
While some stores such as Lou Perrine’s Gas and Grocery will move entirely to 3rd party fulfillment, others will utilize a mix of third-party fulfillment provided by DoorDash, as well as by store employees.
This “hybrid” model allows those stores to quickly scale their existing in-house delivery programs by using DoorDash’s robust driver network, while also servicing areas outside of DoorDash’s coverage area, as well as providing additional fulfillment support to first-party fulfillment sites at times of high customer demand. Delivery with DoorDash will be powered by DoorDash Drive, its white-label fulfillment service that powers direct delivery.
Because the orders are processed through Vroom and not a third-party marketplace, retailers can market their own proprietary e-commerce programs and retain access to their customers’ information and order data. Furthermore, by partnering with Vroom to manage the ordering and payment processes, the cost to retailers of the third-party fulfillment is dramatically reduced compared to normal marketplace rates.
This allows retailers to profitably sell broader categories of products online for delivery without large price markups, and products can be price competitive with e-commerce only competitors such as GoPuff. Alcohol and tobacco delivery is available with this program in select States as well.
“We are excited to launch this service,” said John Nelson, CEO of Vroom Delivery. “We believe that this hybrid of both first- and third-party delivery will be a cost effective and flexible delivery model that other convenience retailers using the Vroom platform will quickly benefit from.”
FavTrip, which conducted its first Vroom order fulfilled by DoorDash last week, chose the hybrid model with a preference towards employee-based delivery. The company will be utilizing third party to extend hours and smooth out peak delivery times.
“Having a service like Vroom has been great added value for our customers, particularly during the pandemic,” said the company’s CEO, Babir Sultan. “However, at times it’s been challenging to staff drivers, particularly during certain times of the day. The Vroom partnership with DoorDash helps us meet these challenges, extend hours, and continue to provide a great service to our community.”
Lou Perrine’s Gas and Grocery, on the other hand, has been delivering using store employees for years yet is opting to transition all of their logistics to 3rd party delivery in the coming weeks.
“The ability to have cost effective third-party fulfillment lowers my overhead and reduces my liability, especially in the wintertime here in Wisconsin, without sacrificing the quality of my proprietary e-commerce program,” said Owner Anthony Perrine. “It also will increase the overall reliability of my delivery operation as I do not need to have staff on standby to deliver. We are really excited by this addition to the Vroom platform.”
Vroom Delivery is a full-stack e-commerce solution for convenience stores, providing every technical aspect required for chains of convenience stores to operate and manage their own e-commerce and delivery services. Vroom can set up an entire network of stores for e-commerce and delivery within a matter of days.