Editors note: This story previously ran in Restaurant Business sister publication CSP Daily News.
Convenience-store chain 7-Eleven Inc. has acquired Skipcart, a startup that has developed a major network of drivers for the last-mile delivery of restaurant food, grocery, convenience-store and other goods in the United States, according to a report by The Information.
Founded in 2018 in San Antonio, Skipcart is a delivery platform providing same-day and on-demand delivery for a variety of industries including e-commerce, pharmaceutical, retail, food and beverage and more, including convenience-store merchandise, with an average delivery time of 30 minutes, the company says on its website. It covers 37 states and parts of Canada through a fleet of more than 150,000 crowd-sourced drivers, it says.
The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal. Two years ago, Skipcart was valued at an estimated $65 million, said the report. The deal is expected to allow 7-Eleven to compete more directly with third-party delivery services, the report said. The retailer did not respond to a CSP request for comment by posting time.
7-Eleven became Instacart’s first c-store partner in 2020 and added Uber Eats and Grubhub to its delivery roster in 2020. Other delivery services that offer 7-Eleven products include Postmates, DoorDash, Google Food Order and Favor (only in Texas). In March, 7-Eleven partnered with Shipt to offer delivery of snacks, drinks and household essentials from 7-Eleven via the same-day delivery service.
The deal comes as 7-Eleven c-store rival Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Laval, Quebec, which owns the Circle K brand, recently invested in the latest round of funding for Food Rocket, a 15-minute grocery delivery service. The $25 million series A investment round will be used to expand the service in Chicago and other cities throughout the United States as well as reinforce its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled software and enhance the team.
- 7-Eleven is No. 1 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 and 2021 Top 202 rankings of the largest U.S. c-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.Couche-Tard is No. 2.
Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 77,700 stores in 19 countries and regions, including about 13,000 in the United States, including approximately 9,500 under the 7-Eleven banner, around 3,800 under the Speedway banner and about 500 under the Stripes flag, as well as the Laredo Taco Company and Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits brands. Customers can earn and redeem points on various items in stores nationwide through its 7Rewards loyalty program with more than 50 million members or place an order in the 7NOW delivery app in more than 2,000 cities.
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