With a store within one mile of 50% of the U.S. population, 7-Eleven's scale puts it in a unique position to deliver convenience products fast, says Raghu Mahadevan, senior vice president, head of digital. The 7Now app offers 4,000 items for delivery and covers 75% of the chain’s U.S. footprint across 1,300 cities, with plans to expand to 100%. 7Now also offers in-store pickup and 7Now Pins, which allow for delivery to parks, beaches and other locations.

7-Eleven also offers delivery through third-party ccompanies Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, Favor, Instacart, Grubhub and Google Food Ordering, covering 90% of its footprint when combined with 7Now.

“Delivery was a customer need even before the pandemic struck and was growing in demand,” says Mahadevan. “We began investing in meeting this demand with a pilot in December 2017 and had built a strong foundation entering 2020; however, there is no ignoring that COVID-19 accelerated consumer behavior toward delivery in order to limit contact points within the shopping experience.

“Overall,” he says, “we are seeing larger basket sizes and a higher quantity of items purchased. We anticipate that consumers will continue to rely on 7-Eleven for a wide variety of products long after the coronavirus pandemic is behind us.”