7-ELEVEN REPORTEDLY EXPANDS DELIVERY WITH STARTUP DEAL

10/08/22; Convenience Store News

IRVING, Texas — 7-Eleven Inc. is expanding its foray into delivery.

The convenience store retailer reportedly acquired Skipcart, a white-label delivery startup that provides same-day and on-demand delivery. Details of the transaction have not yet been disclosed.

The deal will allow 7-Eleven to compete directly with delivery providers including DoorDash and Gopuff — both of which the company currently has partnerships with, reported Restaurant Dive.

According to the company’s website, Skipcart will “deliver anything in 45 minutes or less” at a starting rate of $6.99. The startup operates a national network of 100,000-plus crowdsourced drivers, spanning across 37 states.

Skipcart offers delivery across a wide range of industries, including food and beverage, grocery, restaurants, retail, electronics, point-of-sale systems, automotive and pharmaceuticals.

In addition to 7-Eleven, other partners listed on Skipcart’s website include Albertsons, United Supermarkets, Panda Express, Five Guys, Freshii and Hooters.

Citing a report from The Information, Restaurant Dive reported that in 2017 there were around 100,000 DoorDash couriers, or “Dashers.” According to a filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2020, DoorDash connects with more than 1 million Dashers in the United States, Canada and Australia. Approximately 1.9 million new drivers were added to the company’s network between mid-March and September of last year.

The Information was the first outlet to report the deal.

Through the current partnership between 7-Eleven and DoorDash, consumers can visit DoorDash’s mobile app or website to place their 7-Eleven order for delivery. While 7-Eleven will compete directly with DoorDash after the Skipcart acquisition, there is no indication the convenience retailer will try to offer more than its own inventory, the report said.

Skipcart’s network of 100,000-plus drivers who deliver across 37 states would give 7-Eleven a competitive advantage over Gopuff, which recently announced plans to cut 10 percent of its global workforce and close and consolidate 12 percent of its micro-fulfillment center network in the U.S. among challenging market conditions.

7-Eleven’s acquisition of Skipcart comes at a time when other convenience retailers enter the delivery space. In April, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., parent company of the Circle K and Couche-Tard c-store banners, led Series A funding for Food Rocket, a delivery startup that provides fast grocery delivery and promises door-to-door delivery within 10 to 15 minutes of the order’s placement. 

Couche-Tard’s equity investment in Food Rocket comes through its Circle K Venture Fund, which it established to invest in companies developing transformative solutions that are shaping the future of convenience. In March, Couche-Tard reported that it had already invested nearly $55 million of the fund’s initial $100 million in companies such as Food Rocket, as Convenience Store News recently reported.

7-Eleven’s Current Delivery Portfolio

The reported acquisition of Skipcart comes on the heels of 7-Eleven’s latest partnership with Waitr Holdings Inc. As part of the latest collaboration, Waitr will deliver from more than 700 7-Eleven convenience stores.

In addition to Waitr and DoorDash, 7-Eleven’s current delivery portfolio includes Uber Eats, Grubhub, Instacart and Postmates. Google Food Ordering and Favor (offered in Texas only) are also available.

The convenience retailer also offers delivery via its propriety 7NOW mobile app in select markets. 7-Eleven launched delivery via the 7NOW mobile app in 2018.

Additionally, earlier this year, 7-Eleven introduced the 7NOW Gold Pass subscription delivery service. For $5.95 a month, subscribers have delivery fees waived on all delivery orders on a selection of more than 3,000 products. The 7NOW Gold Pass service pays for itself in about three delivery orders per month, 7-Eleven said at the time of the introduction.