TV Dinners & DIY: Instacart & Peacock, Deliveroo & Screwfix
DoorDash decks the doorsteps, ecommerce sales stall
Wow, somehow it’s already been a week since Thanksgiving. Despite that scary news, 3PDs are still rolling out all sorts of huge partnerships: Instacart+ is teaming up with Peacock Premium to ensure you never put your phone down; Deliveroo is finally getting into non-restaurant delivery, starting with DIY chain Screwfix (gotta love British names); DoorDash is unwrapping its own multi-day holiday event; and of course we’ve got some interesting new Census shopping data.
This week’s edition is brought to you by Curbivore’s 2-for-1 BFCM Sale.
Today:
TV Dinner — Instacart+ Partners with Peacock Premium
DoorDash’s Deck the Doorsteps Deal-a-thon
Chart Time | Ecommerce Sales’ Slow Growth
Deliveroo Delivers Non-Meals, Starting with Screwfix
PROMOS | Instacart+ Offers Free Peacock Premium
Food and TV, has there ever been a better combination? Instacart certainly doesn’t think so, as the grocery-oriented 3PD is kicking off a new promotion to boost subscriptions to its Instacart+ membership program: free Peacock Premium. Given that Peacock Premium — despite the name, that’s the NBCUniversal streaming service’s basic tier — is normally $5.99/mo or $59.99 a year, bundling that in to Instacart+’s $9.99/mo or $99/year subscription sounds like a great deal for frequent grocery shoppers who can’t get enough Office or Scrubs reruns. The two brands are kicking off the collab with an ad campaign that is sadly about as funny as recent seasons of SNL…
The Big Picture: Bundlin’ is the name of the game, as subscription services try to make themselves irreplaceable by cramming in as many add-ons as possible. Adding in streaming is of course something “valuable” that Instacart can offer, while having basically zero marginal cost. What’s more interesting is that Instacart is the main brand here, and Peacock is the perk; usually we’ve seen it the other way around: Amazon Prime offers Grubhub+ as a free perk, Chase credit cards offer DoorDash’s DashPass as a free add-on, a number of hotels have added free delivery as perks for loyalty customers, etc.
PARTNER | Two for One Tickets to Curbivore - $49.50 Each!
There are only about 24 hours left to claim our amazing Cyber Week deal: 2 for 1 tickets to our beloved Curbivore event. Restaurant Dive calls it one of the “most high-profile events on the calendar for 2024.” Uber’s Head of Grocery + Retail Fulfillment David Meers says it’s “a great way to connect with all sides of our marketplace.” Forbes calls it the best place to discuss the “amazing transformation of the curb.” Join us in LA next March, ticket prices jump tomorrow!
HOLIDAYS | DoorDash, Shipt Launch Multi-Day Saving Events
DoorDash is rolling from BFCM to the December holidays like nobody’s business, kicking off “Deck the Doorstep: 12 Days of Deals” on 12/1. Promos include free Peppermint Frosties from Wendy’s, $5 off $35+ DashMart orders (which seems pretty stingy for an in-house brand,) 20% off booze, free Coca-cola and more. Shipt is taking things in a different direction, with “5 Days of Delight.” Instead of glomming random discounts onto the calendar, each day it’s offering a different bundle of discounted products, geared towards gift-giving and nominally designed by a celebrity. Eg — Queer Eye star Tan France has designed a package that includes decor essentials, faux fur throws, wreaths, and candles.
The Big Picture: DoorDash’s Deck the Doorstep promo joins Uber’s “Holiday Deals Guide” and Grubhub’s “Gold Days” in the realm of multi-week holiday discounts. A lot of the brand partners across these platforms are the same: Wendy’s, CVS, PetSmart, etc. Uber and DoorDash are gearing the deals for all users, whereas Grubhub is focused on pushing folks to its premium Grubhub+ loyalty service. DoorDash’s deals also seem to be the stingiest — we’re seeing lots of 10 and 20% off discounts, whereas the other two have deals creeping into the 30-40% range.
CHART TIME | So Much Room for Ecommerce Growth
We may think we’re living in a delivery world, but new Census figures show that there’s still a long way to go in the ecommercification of everything. After getting a big bump during the early pandemic, online sales as a percentage of overall spending is holding pretty flat, sitting at 15.6%.
3PD | Deliveroo Adds Retail Shopping, DIY Chain Screwfix
British 3PD Deliveroo is finally hopping into a new category: general retail shopping, meaning electronics, pet food, toys and DIY kits are now available on the teal app. The biggest partner for the new category is Screwfix, a home improvement / DIY chain with nearly 900 locations in the U.K., putting it within 20 minutes of 90% of the populace. Grocers like Waitrose, Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are also adding to their in-platform selection, while pharmacy chain Boots is increasing SKUs for the holidays. Deliveroo is also adding in the ability to send gifts to other users, including flower delivery.
The Big Picture: While American 3PDs have been offering non-restaurant delivery for years now, Deliveroo has been slow to diversify, limited grocery options notwithstanding. The London-based company says it’s seeing 71,000 monthly searches for pet products, a 76% increase in searches for home accessories in the past year, and 320,000 monthly searches for beauty and personal care. The company made £250,000 sales of flowers in October (+280% YoY), sold £40k of AirPods in Q3 and so far this year has sold 1.4M packages of toilet paper. While some of Deliveroo’s international arms already do a better job in these categories (for example, its HK ops teamed up with Watsons in January,) expect to see this pushed to all other regions — France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE — sooner than later.
A Few Good Links
Chef Michael Mina branded ghost kitchen operator Crave Kitchen shutters. Sprinkles promotes Murakami to COO. Amazon subleasing warehouse space. More retailers saying “keep it” in face of rising returns. Shipt’s holiday delivery survey. Merchants should offer split-pay. Personalization drives rebound at Foot Locker. Q3 GDP growth comes in strong, inflation faltering. Federal Highway Admin to require states to set tailpipe emission reduction targets. A west coast package: Dungeons & Dragons, UCLA basketball, Ansel Adams stamps. Caltrans honored for enhancing ped safety. Voificy and Chowly partner on voice powered ordering. Kroger Q3 shows delivery up 20%. Instacart, Wegmans deliver booze to NJ. Dunkin’ rehires Martha. Men like grocery delivery more than women.
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