7-Eleven Partners With Postmates To Deliver San Francisco And Oakland

7-Eleven will offer delivery to customers by partnering with San Francisco-based technology company Postmates in San Francisco and Oakland, California. Areas of delivery should be expanded later this year where there is a high density of 7-Eleven stores — Austin, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

Select stores now offer on-demand delivery through Postmates iOS, Android or Web app. An assortment of 7-Eleven’s products from hot foods and snacks to cold beverages and other convenience items will be delivered by Postmates to customers in an hour or less.

“7-Eleven’s founder, Joe C. Thompson, Jr., used to say 7-Eleven’s mission was to ‘give customers what they want, when and where they want it’,” said Raja Doddala, 7-Eleven’s vice president of innovation and omnichannel strategy. “Through the modern-day technology that Postmates provides, we can fulfill that promise in a way we haven’t done before.”

This is 7-Eleven’s first official foray into delivery and fulfills a component of the company’s omnichannel strategy.

“Through our partnership with Postmates, 7-Eleven’s reach extends beyond our physical stores,” Doddala said. “The program should work well for us because it appeals to our customers who are more on-the-go, connected 24/7 and prefer fast-paced, urban living.”

“Plus, we have market concentration in these geographic areas, which makes shopping with us through Postmates even more convenient for the customer,” Doddala added.

Postmates just closed an $80 million Series D last week. The investment values the four-year-old company at more than $400 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. Almost three years ago, Postmates started with the idea of offering deliveries from restaurants that didn’t deliver themselves — and in less than an hour. Now, 2.5 million deliveries and 28 markets later, the startup says it is currently operating the largest on-demand delivery fleet in the U.S. with 13,000 Postmates couriers. Its gross profit is on track to grow by more than 10 times in 2015, compared to 2014. Other partnerships include Starbucks, McDonald’s and Chipotle.

“By partnering with 7-Eleven, we will be able to provide both 7-Eleven and Postmates customers access to groceries, fresh food and other goods across all markets that our companies are both operating in,” said Holger Luedorf, Postmates senior vice president. “In providing 7-Eleven with a digital storefront and giving its team access to our fleet of more than 12,000 Postmates, we are making the experience even more convenient for our joint customers.”