Between Amazon's monster $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods, and heavily venture backed Instacart delivering groceries straight to your door, there's been plenty of innovation---and money---thrown at the grocery industry in recent years.
But when it comes to improving the grocery shopping experience, often lost in the conversation are the medium-sized regional grocery chains, which play a vital role in providing affordable food to communities across the country.
To make sure these regional grocers don't miss out on today's technology innovations, a Madison startup is giving them the e-commerce tools they need to let customers shop for groceries on any device, and get items sent right to their home.
GrocerKey, founded by Jeremy Neren in 2014, gives retailers all the digital tools needed---on both the front and back end---to offer an e-commerce business that compliments a store's brick-and-mortar operations. GrocerKey provides branded online stores and mobile apps to grocery chains, allowing customers to place online orders from their phone or computer and get items sent to their door. Retailers can fulfill orders efficiently through a back-end management system.
The startup also offers customers a variety of other digitals tools, like the ability to create online shopping lists and clip digital coupons. And GrocerKey recently launched a new product that lets customers scan and pay for items in-store with their smartphone and skip the checkout line.
The goal is to help grocery chains keep up in a world where more and more shoppers are buying groceries online, and to provide regional stores with digital tools to keep up with companies like Instacart.
"We view ourselves as being a much more suitable partner for a retailer," Neren said. "Our technology is intended to meet the consumer wherever they want to shop. And therefore uplift the retailer online and in store."
GrocerKey works with a number of medium and large regional grocers across the country, including Woodman's, Kowalski's, Piggly Wiggly and Berkot's Super Foods. Neren said revenue topped $2 million in 2017, which is up 5X from the year before. The startup expects to do $8.5 million in revenue in 2018 and is planning to reach profitability next year, Neren said.
GrocerKey employs 325 people, which includes operational staff tasked with picking groceries and handling delivery for Woodman's, which is the only client GrocerKey provides delivery for. It outsources delivery for all of its other customers.
GrocerKey has raised around $4 million in outside capital, including a strategic investment from Woodman's. Other investors include Herb Kohl and gener8tor.
