Tops set to debut curbside pickup

Tops Friendly Markets is building on its rollout of Instacart online grocery delivery with the launch of a click-and-collect service this weekend.

Called Tops Grocery Pick Up, the program is scheduled to kick off on Sunday, Oct. 7, at stores in Hamburg, Williamsville and Tonawanda, N.Y., the regional grocer said. That service also will be powered by Instacart.

To use the pickup service, Tops customers order their groceries at the chain’s branded Instacart website (TopsMarkets.com/Instacart), choose a pickup time period at one of the three Tops stores offering the service, and checkout online. Instacart personal shoppers then pick and bag their order and prepare it for pickup.

Once their order is ready, shoppers will receive a text with pickup instructions, which include a designated Tops Grocery Pick Up parking spot. When arriving at the selected location, shoppers text “here” to inform Tops, and a store associate will bring their grocery order to their vehicle.

“This is yet another exciting expansion in Tops Pickup and Delivery services,” Jill Sirica, manager of digital marketing for Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops Friendly Markets, said in a statement. “We strive to continue to make our consumer experience easier and more convenient, and we are excited to bring this next evolution of service to our customers.”

Related:Tops brings Instacart delivery to more stores

In mid-June, Tops announced what it called its largest expansion with Instacart same-day delivery, bringing the service to 125 of its 169 supermarkets, or nearly three-quarters of its stores, which are located in New York, northern Pennsylvania and Vermont. The move marked the retailer’s fifth expansion with Instacart since introducing the service in the fall of 2017.

Tops noted that e-grocery shoppers — besides being able to order the same fresh meat, seafood and produce selections they find in-store — will see a new feature: a natural and organic online grocery store, dubbed TopsOrganics.com.

The site offers thousands of certified organic, gluten-free and minimally processed products, including national brands and Tops’ Full Circle organics private label. Tops said the new e-store enables customers to find natural, organic and better-for-you in one place.

In support of the Tops Grocery Pick Up launch, Tops and Instacart are offering customers $15 off their first order.