Food Lion expands Instacart delivery to half of its stores

Ahold Delhaize USA’s Food Lion supermarket chain has launched same-day online grocery delivery via Instacart at another 300-plus stores in five states.

Food Lion said Instacart service became available yesterday at 302 stores in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. With the expansion, more than 500 Food Lion stores now offer Instacart delivery.

The Salisbury, N.C.-based grocer reported that it plans to bring Instacart delivery service to more towns and cities. Overall, the chain operates over 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

“Expanding this convenient service to 302 stores in the Food Lion footprint is more important than ever,” Evan Harding, director of digital and e-commerce marketing at Food Lion, said in a statement. “We want to give local neighbors the option to shop through the channel they prefer, in-store or online, while still ensuring they have access to the freshest groceries at affordable prices.”

Food Lion provides online grocery delivery and pickup under the Food Lion To-Go brand. Customers place orders through the Food Lion To-Go website and mobile app, both built and powered by Instacart Enterprise, or via the Instacart online marketplace.

Instacart personal shoppers pick and pack Food Lion To-Go orders and deliver them to customers’ homes within the selected time window. Orders can be delivered in as soon as an hour or scheduled up to two weeks in advance.

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Food Lion grocery delivery through Instacart is available seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The chain noted that customers ordering online will get the same product pricing as in stores.

Last month, Food Lion linked its loyalty program to its Instacart-powered services, enabling customers to use digital coupons and redeem Shop & Earn MVP rewards when ordering online for store pickup or home delivery. Customers can see their accumulated Shop & Earn rewards on their checkout screen as well as the clipped digital coupons applied to their order, in addition to MVP discounts, in-store promotions and weekly savings specials. 

Food Lion began its partnership with San Francisco-based Instacart in 2016 with a pilot of online grocery delivery service in the Charlotte, N.C., market.

Though Instacart manages Food Lion’s online shopping portal and delivery service, the supermarket chain uses its own trained personal shoppers to pick and bag groceries for Food Lion To-Go pickup orders and bring them to customers when they arrive at the store. Food Lion initially tested To-Go pickup at three stores in 2017 before expanding the pilot to another 50 stores in 2018 and bringing the service to more stores last summer.

Related:Food Lion links loyalty program to online grocery services