Peapod Expands Pickup

Ahold USA’s Peapod grocery delivery service is ramping up options for shoppers looking to avoid the in-store experience.The alternative grocer is testing its own pickup locations, adding an alternative to its home/business delivery service. The first site opened in Palatine, IL, on Oct. 2, and a second is slated to open in Deerfield, IL, near the end of 2012, a Peapod spokesperson told the Institute. A third Chicago-area location also is being considered. Orders will be processed through Peapod’s Lake Zurich, IL, warehouse. Service fees are being waived for a limited time.In another recent first, Peapod began offering order pickups at Ahold’s Stop & Shop store in Abington, MA, on Aug. 28. Consumers living within 10 miles of the Abington store can place orders on peapod.com for delivery or pickup. Launch promotions included waiver of what will be a $2.95 service charge.The moves are part of Ahold's “Reshaping Retail" initiative, which was introduced in November 2011 to better align the supermarket retailer with 21st century shopping trends. (See "Ahold Set to …" in Related Articles.)Stop & Shop currently offers store pickup of online orders made through its own website at three Massachusetts locations in a program that launched in fall 2011 (see "The New Aisle …"), using the store’s own inventory for fulfillment. The new Abington service picks items from a separate Peapod warehouse."Peapod pickup is a terrific addition to Peapod delivery and continues to support our goal of helping customers shop the way they want to shop," Joe Kelley, Stop & Shop New England division president, said in a media release.Also this month, Peapod introduced same-day order delivery, which carries a $2 premium on top of the standard $2.95 charge.The company also recently extended its pilot program of "virtual stores" at commuter rail stations, which now number roughly 100 sites in Boston, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Chicago. Commuters can place an order through the PeapodMobile smartphone application and schedule a delivery. (See "Peapod Sets Up Shop …")A virtual store "shelf" installed in the tunnel at Chicago Transit Authority's State & Lake stop (one of 16 in the CTA system) presents selections from a "Chicago's Best" assortment of about 150 ready-to-serve and ready-to-cook products from local restaurants and businesses. Virtual sites on the East Coast showcase products from national manufacturers such as Barilla America, Coca-Cola Co., Kimberly-Clark, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser. Commuters are promised $20 off their first order."When we piloted the virtual aisles in Philadelphia and Chicago earlier this year, we found that the advertising stopped people, it engaged them. That's what we're after," Peapod chief operating officer Mike Brennan said in a media release.

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