Jewel-Osco will launch its own online delivery service next week, joining a host of other major companies vying for ground in the e-commerce market for groceries.
Starting Nov. 7, the Chicago area’s largest supermarket chain will offer same-day shipping on orders of $49 or more, Jewel-Osco officials said on Wednesday.
Delivery fees will range from $0.95 to $9.95 depending on the size of the order, the time of day and window of time for delivery, according to Anthony Suggs, Jewel-Osco’s vice president for marketing and merchandising. Customers won’t have to pay a fee for their first online order.
Most orders will arrive within a four-hour window, though it can be narrowed to one hour for a higher fee. Orders will have to be placed before noon for same-day delivery.
The company already offers delivery through the service Instacart — and will continue to do so — but prices are inflated on the third-party website, according to Suggs, and it doesn’t allow customers to order liquor.
“We’re looking to present our customers with more choices,” Suggs said.
About 100 workers and 60 delivery trucks make up the company’s new e-commerce department, and they’ll put together the orders with goods supplied from 11 of Jewel-Osco’s 187 stores. Delivery will be available to most of the Chicago area.
Earlier this year, retail giants Walmart and Target stepped up their online grocery delivery efforts, and Amazon is expected to follow suit after acquiring Whole Foods.
It’s a return of sorts for Jewel-Osco to its 1899 origin, when horse-and-buggy drivers went door-to-door selling tea, Suggs said.
“Everything comes full circle in this business,” Jewel-Osco president Doug Cygan said earlier this year when he announced the company would start taking online orders.
Jewel-Osco also has stores downstate and near the Quad Cities, but the company is still working on setting up delivery in those areas.
