Fresh Street, a pickup-only grocery store, opened last week in Chicago. It’s an e-grocery platform available via a mobile app on iOS or Android that offers 4,000 SKUs of food and nonfood items for free curbside pickup within 30 minutes of the order being placed.
To use the service, customers open an account online or via the mobile app and begin shopping. Shoppers earn 1% cash back on every purchase in addition to other rewards that can be redeemed at checkout.
According to the company, products include national brands and local favorites, and categories include fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, seafood, dairy and eggs, baked goods, dry groceries, frozen foods, beverages and international foods. In addition, nonfood offerings like personal and beauty care, baby care, household products, home and garden items, and pet care are available.
Fresh Street promises that there will be no substitutions necessary since its platform reflects real-time inventory.
The company noted that industry expert Brick Meets Click found that pickup accounted for 40% of U.S. online grocery sales in February and 47% in January, as compared to 37% and 35%, respectively, for delivery. In addition, sales and marketing specialist Acosta revealed that click-and-collect is the preferred service, as 20% of online grocery shoppers use pickup only versus 14% opting for delivery only.
Fresh Street, which raised $4 million in seed funding last fall, plans to open more than 10 stores in the Chicago area before expanding to other markets.