Target Aims To Purchase Delivery Startup Deliv

As Target eyes boosting its same-day delivery services, the company is negotiating to purchase portions of California startup Deliv Inc., CNBC reported.

The company had offered same-day delivery for Best Buy Co., Macy’s Inc., Mercato Inc., Walgreens and others, the news service reported.

Interest in purchasing pieces of the company follows a report by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday (May 6) that Deliv will close this summer, according to an email from founder and CEO Daphne Carmeli sent to its delivery workers.

“Due to a confluence of events over the past few months, Deliv will unfortunately be winding down our operations over the next 90 days,” she wrote.

Carmeli declined to comment or provide reasons for the closure.

Valued at $190 million two years ago, Deliv has raised $85 million in venture capital since its founding in 2012, according to PitchBook Data Inc.

Deliv’s venture investors include General Catalyst, PivotNorth Capital, Redpoint Ventures and Upfront Ventures, according to its website.

Deliv also had capital from corporate investors including United Parcel Service Inc., Google and Enterprise Holdings Inc., the network reported.

“Deliv is in the process of completing a deal to sell technology assets to Target and Deliv’s CEO along with a subset of the team will be moving over to Target. Target is not involved in the wind-down,” Deliv said in a statement.

The timing couldn’t be better.

A PYMNTS survey of more than 12,000 consumers found in just two months four times more consumers are buying groceries online and ordering takeout while three times more customers are shopping online for things other than groceries.

The survey also revealed 39 percent of consumers shop for retail goods online more often than they did on March 6, the first day of the study, and that continues to climb — up 10.5 percent from 35.5 percent in just the last two weeks.

A year ago, Walmart debuted Walmart Voice Order. The service with help from Google, allows consumers to use voice commands to shop for groceries. Shoppers simply say “Google, talk to Walmart” and Google Assistant will add products directly to their Walmart grocery carts. Shoppers can also manage their shopping carts on the go, as the technology is available on a host of devices, such as Android phones.