PITTSBURGH -- Grocer Giant Eagle Inc. has taken another step in positioning its convenience-store brand as a strong foodservice competitor. The Pittsburgh-based GetGo chain is trying out meal-delivery service Grubhub.
GetGo began its partnership with Grubhub at one of its Pittsburgh locations last week. The c-store chain is also set to test Uber Eats as a delivery partner at a Columbus, Ohio, location, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“Our kitchen has been evolving over the last year,” Jon Cox, director of fresh food for GetGo, told the newspaper. “We want to be seen as a restaurant first. Grubhub seemed to be a great evolution for us.”
Third-party delivery is not the only way the retailer is working to create a frictionless customer experience. As part of Giant Eagle’s updated app, GetGo customers can order ahead for pickup.
GetGo follows other retailers such as Wawa Inc., Wawa, Pa., and QuikTrip, Tulsa, Okla., into the third-party-delivery space. Also earlier this year, grocer H-E-B acquired food-delivery company Favor.
A “big battle” is coming now with fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, KFC and Taco Bell investing in the $100 billion delivery market, said Todd Hale, Nielsen consultant and principal with Cincinnati-based Todd Hale Inc., at the recent 2018 NACS State of the Industry Summit in Chicago. There’s a lot of activity going on in this space, Hale said.
With 220 locations, Pittsburgh-based GetGo ranked No. 34 in a year-end update of CSP’s2017 Top 202 list of the largest c-store chains in the United States.
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