Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

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Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by storewanderer »

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... -doordash/

Which divisions had the branded delivery trucks for the .com service? I know NorCal has them in Sacramento/Bay Area.

Maybe they will be keeping these branded delivery trucks in some of the divisions... but not others.
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by veteran+ »

"The decision “will help us create a more efficient operation,” she said, but it was a difficult one because “our team has done a great job providing a convenient and welcoming e-commerce shopping experience.”"

"“This decision will allow us to compete in the growing home delivery market more effectively,” Lara said. “Since the COVID-19 outbreak, our e-commerce business has risen to new heights and has become more strategically important to Albertsons and Tom Thumb.”"

Ummmmmmmmm................................NO!

This decision will enhance shareholder profit and Exec Team salary and benefits.

Typical corporate spin ad nauseam !
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by pseudo3d »

It certainly says something but I can’t figure it out. Maybe either the grocery delivery in some markets is a money-losing venture, maybe the grocery delivery trend is just a trend that will go dormant once more (as it did in the early 1990s), maybe going public has once again put scrutiny on the company for a better balance sheet.

I imagine what this actually means will be more obvious in the years to come.
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: December 12th, 2020, 5:57 am
Ummmmmmmmm................................NO!

This decision will enhance shareholder profit and Exec Team salary and benefits.

Typical corporate spin ad nauseam !
In the early 00's, Albertsons had its own .com operation in some markets with the delivery vehicles, and that didn't last long. Given Albertsons was always third fiddle competitor at best back in the early 00's, it was probably not many people's top choice for online ordering. I was surprised Safeway kept its .com operation with the branded delivery vehicles going as long as they did but it seemed like they did have some people using the service in NorCal at least, and I assume in the other metro areas where they kept it.

I almost suspect volume and demand spiked so much for their .com service this past year, they had to make a decision to either buy a lot more vehicles and hire a lot more staff, or just outsource the whole thing. This could have been a point of differentiation for them to control their .com operation but as you point out I guess it just cost too much.

Do these Instacart, etc. things have refrigerated vehicles to deliver food in or do they just use ice chests or something?
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by Alpha8472 »

Safeway delivery has been overwhelmed by the increase in online orders. I have heard many complaints about delayed deliveries and canceled deliveries. There are so many complaints that Safeway probably had to give refunds and credits. It is a money losing delivery system if you do not have enough trucks and delivery drivers. It is very labor intensive and the telephone customer service needed to deal with complaints must be complicated.

I have seen Instacart drivers from Florida on Youtube just put the groceries in their passenger seat or the back seat. The drivers seem to rush because they are timed to the minute for being late. It makes for faster a delivery for the customer. However, shopping for Instacart is difficult as there are so many out of stocks or hard to find items. I can see many customer complaints about substitutions. The Instacart driver can message the customer about substitutions. Instacart can deal with the potential losses or customer service problems. Many delivery services are still operating as a loss. It could be years before they make a profit.
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by veteran+ »

The Vons/Pavilions delivery system "seems" to be very popular in Los Angeles.

The trucks in front of Pavilions in West Hollywood always look busy.
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: December 13th, 2020, 12:05 am
veteran+ wrote: December 12th, 2020, 5:57 am
Ummmmmmmmm................................NO!

This decision will enhance shareholder profit and Exec Team salary and benefits.

Typical corporate spin ad nauseam !
In the early 00's, Albertsons had its own .com operation in some markets with the delivery vehicles, and that didn't last long. Given Albertsons was always third fiddle competitor at best back in the early 00's, it was probably not many people's top choice for online ordering. I was surprised Safeway kept its .com operation with the branded delivery vehicles going as long as they did but it seemed like they did have some people using the service in NorCal at least, and I assume in the other metro areas where they kept it.

I almost suspect volume and demand spiked so much for their .com service this past year, they had to make a decision to either buy a lot more vehicles and hire a lot more staff, or just outsource the whole thing. This could have been a point of differentiation for them to control their .com operation but as you point out I guess it just cost too much.

Do these Instacart, etc. things have refrigerated vehicles to deliver food in or do they just use ice chests or something?
Since they implied "several" divisions would lose the service, I'm guessing NorCal wasn't one being axed. I'm guessing the ones that will remain are the stores centered in dense areas or flagship divisions (Shaw's/Star Market, Jewel-Osco, Intermountain).

Meanwhile, the Texas division of Safeway (now the Southern division of Albertsons) was never their strongest, and it was speculated had Albertsons not entered into a merger with Safeway, the division would've been history. Certainly the Houston market, which hasn't been doing very well since 2014 but still around, who knows if there were plans for it after the 2020 closures that got derailed after COVID-19.
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by CalItalian »

veteran+ wrote: December 13th, 2020, 6:15 am The Vons/Pavilions delivery system "seems" to be very popular in Los Angeles.

The trucks in front of Pavilions in West Hollywood always look busy.
Gone as of February 27, 2021. Entire SoCal division, Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions. Switching to DoorDash.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/alber ... 1609811463
https://knock-la.com/vons-fires-deliver ... 99ee24ffd0
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by storewanderer »

CalItalian wrote: January 4th, 2021, 7:19 pm
veteran+ wrote: December 13th, 2020, 6:15 am The Vons/Pavilions delivery system "seems" to be very popular in Los Angeles.

The trucks in front of Pavilions in West Hollywood always look busy.
Gone as of February 27, 2021. Entire SoCal division, Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions. Switching to DoorDash.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/alber ... 1609811463
https://knock-la.com/vons-fires-deliver ... 99ee24ffd0
Does DoorDash have experience in grocery delivery?

Do they use refrigerated vehicles with separate compartments for refrigerated/frozen like the Safeway delivery trucks had?
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Re: Albertsons outsources home delivery in "several divisions" - fires drivers- switches to third party services

Post by arizonaguy »

storewanderer wrote: January 4th, 2021, 7:30 pm
CalItalian wrote: January 4th, 2021, 7:19 pm
veteran+ wrote: December 13th, 2020, 6:15 am The Vons/Pavilions delivery system "seems" to be very popular in Los Angeles.

The trucks in front of Pavilions in West Hollywood always look busy.
Gone as of February 27, 2021. Entire SoCal division, Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions. Switching to DoorDash.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/alber ... 1609811463
https://knock-la.com/vons-fires-deliver ... 99ee24ffd0
Does DoorDash have experience in grocery delivery?

Do they use refrigerated vehicles with separate compartments for refrigerated/frozen like the Safeway delivery trucks had?
I'd assume that the grocery delivery in the SW division will also be outsourced.

As far as DoorDash and grocery delivery, they have an existing partnership with Walmart in many markets to provide delivery for the Walmart+ service. They use private vehicles and leave it up to the driver as to how the driver is to refrigerate the groceries. At least with the Walmart+ deliveries I have had it seems like they run a direct store -> consumer model where the items are picked up from the store and then delivered to my house within about 10 - 15 minutes.
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