Peapod

Peapod Online Grocer (US), LLC is an American online grocery delivery service.[2]

This article is about the delivery service. For the pod of the pea plant, see Pea.
Peapod Online Grocer (US)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryOnline grocer
Founded1989 (1989)
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
,
United States
Key people
Thomas Parkinson
(Co-founder, CTO)
Andrew Parkinson
(Co-founder)
Number of employees
4,600 (2017[1])
ParentAhold Delhaize
Websitewww.peapod.com

The company is based in Chicago, IL and operates in several U.S. cities. It is owned by Ahold Delhaize, which operates Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Giant-Landover, and other supermarkets, and delivers from that company's stores. It used to deliver from its own Chicago-area and other warehouses in the Midwest until its Midwest operations ceased in early 2020. [3]

Peapod online grocery has operations in 24 U.S. urban markets, and as of 2015 was the largest online grocery delivery store in the United States.[4][5]

In October 2017, Peapod Online Grocer (US) announced it was moving its headquarters from suburban Skokie, Illinois to downtown Chicago.[6]

Overview
A Peapod delivery truck in Chicago

Peapod Online Grocer (US) was founded in 1989 by Andrew Parkinson and Thomas Parkinson,[2] both of whom are still executive officers. One early proposal for a name for the new company was IPOD, an acronym for Information and Product On Demand. The brothers, taking marketing considerations into account, decided on the friendlier sounding "Peapod" instead.[7] Before 1996, Peapod Online Grocer (US) provided an online grocery shopping service in a partnership with Jewel supermarket in Chicago, Illinois[2] and surrounding towns; Kroger in Columbus, Ohio; Randall's in Houston, Texas, and Safeway in San Francisco, California in 1993.[2]

In 1996, the company launched its website[2] and became one of the earliest internet start-ups; the company ranked 69th on the Inc. 500 list of fast-growing privately held U.S. companies.[8] That year the company held an IPO on NASDAQ. Between 1997 and 2000, Peapod expanded into Boston and Watertown, Massachusetts, Long Island, New York, and Norwalk, Connecticut in partnership with Stop & Shop. In late 2000, they added Washington, D.C. and surrounding towns through Giant of Landover, and in 2011 they also started serving the Philadelphia market with Giant of Carlisle and Manhattan with Stop & Shop.[9][10]

In June 2000, global grocery corporation Royal Ahold bought 51% of Peapod's shares,[11] and in August 2001, Royal Ahold bought out the entire company.[12] As a result, Peapod cancelled its contracts with all grocery companies except for Royal Ahold's two main American chains, Stop & Shop and Giant Food (Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle).[12] This caused Peapod to abandon Columbus, Houston, and San Francisco entirely.

As of 2019, Peapod held 9% of the online grocery delivery market in New York City, behind FreshDirect (68%), Instacart (13%), and Amazon Fresh (9%).[13]

In February 2020, Peapod announced they would be ceasing operations in the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) and focus exclusively on serving the East Coast.[14] However, the headquarters for Peapod Digital Labs, which runs the e-commerce technology for Ahold Delhaize's U.S. grocery brands, will remain in downtown Chicago.

Mobile app

In February 2012, Peapod introduced signs at some SEPTA Regional Rail stations in Philadelphia which enabled smartphone users to shop for groceries using Peapod's mobile app on their phone and scanning the barcodes of items listed on the signs.[15] The grocery delivery occurs later in the day.[15]

Recognition and awards

In 2017, Peapod Online Grocer (US) was listed as "one of the oldest and most popular online grocery services in the marketplace."[16]

The NPD Group's Chief Food Industry Analyst, Harry Balzer, considers Peapod the top online grocery delivery service and believes that could be used as a model for delivery services, such as Amazon and Walmart, if they move into the business of online groceries.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Peapod Online Grocer (US) picks downtown HQ". Crain's Chicago Business.
  2. Daft, Richard L. (2008). "New Era of Management". Cengage Learning. p. 756.
  3. Elejalde-Ruiz, Alexia (February 12, 2020). "Peapod to shut down grocery delivery in the Midwest and cut 500 jobs". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  4. Reynolds, George (2015). "Information Technology for Managers". Cengage Learning. pp. 213–214.
  5. "Peapod is "doubling down" on value". Supermarket News. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  6. Trotter, Greg. "Peapod to move HQ from Skokie to downtown Chicago". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  7. Greenspan, Lorie. "PEAPOD, LLC – Two Peas in a Pod". Industry Today. Volume 3, Issue 1. Positive Publications LLC – Industry Today. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  8. "Peapod LP – Evanston, IL – The Inc.5000". Mansueto Ventures LLC. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  9. "We've now delivering to Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania!". Peapod.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  10. "We've just added more zip codes to our delivery area in Manhattan!". Peapod.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  11. Geunes, Joseph; Akçali, Elif; Pardalos, Panos M.; Romeijn, H. Edwin; Shen, Zuo-Jun Max (2004). "Applications of Supply Chain Management and E-Commerce Research". Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 228–229.
  12. "Peapod And Alexa Deliver Grocery Convenience | PYMNTS.com". www.pymnts.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  13. News, A. F. P. (2019-11-27). "In New York, Grocery Deliveries Go High-tech". International Business Times. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  14. Elejalde-Ruiz, Alexia (February 12, 2020). "Peapod to shut down grocery delivery in the Midwest and cut 500 jobs". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  15. "The Grocery Store of the Future". The Atlantic. February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  16. Monaco, Emily. "5 Online Grocery Services to Shop in Your Slippers: How to Never Grocery Shop Again in 2017". Organic Authority. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  17. Tam, Donna. "Peapod who? Online grocer shows Amazon, Walmart how it's done". Cnet. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
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