Today in Food Commerce: Uber Announces on-Demand Discount Grocery Delivery; Albertsons Expands Smart Cart Trial

Today in food commerce, Uber partners with Grocery Outlet to offer on-demand and scheduled delivery from dozens of the grocer’s locations, while Albertsons adds smart carts to more stores. Plus, SpotOn’s valuation rises to $3.6 billion.

Uber Joins Race to Extend Grocery Delivery to All Income Brackets

As businesses push up against eGrocery adoption barriers, many are realizing that, if they want to grow their customer base, they will need to appeal to the needs of those who cannot pay the premium for digital convenience. Uber, for its part, is piloting on-demand and scheduled delivery with Grocery Outlet at 72 of the discount grocer’s locations across the West Coast.

Albertsons Expands Smart Cart Test as Grocers Aim to Remove Friction From Self-Checkout

As online grocery adoption rises, brick-and-mortar grocers are challenged to bring the frictionless convenience consumers have come to expect into their physical stores. Major grocery retailer Albertsons, for one, is expanding its partnership with smart shopping cart creator Veeve, co-founded by Amazon veterans in 2018, to “a few dozen stores” across the United States.

Retail Software SpotOn Nets $300M for Development

SpotOn, a software and payment company working with restaurants and retail businesses, has raised $300 million in a Series F round led by Dragoneer Investment Group. The company plans to use the funding to work on more tech products to help businesses meet the “evolving needs” of the time.