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Giant Eagle curbs friction with curbside pickup

FlyBuy Pickup location-based technology helps process booming online orders

Russell Redman

September 23, 2020

3 Min Read
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To help process online orders, Giant Eagle transitioned a number of supermarkets to curbside pickup centers, including locations dedicated to fulfilling pickup and delivery orders only.Giant Eagle

With e-commerce orders surging amid the coronavirus pandemic, Giant Eagle has enlisted Radius Networks’ FlyBuy Pickup solution to sharpen coordination of curbside pickup and make the service a frictionless affair for customers.

Washington, D.C.-based Radius said Wednesday that FlyBuy Pickup uses proprietary machine-learning technology to accurately predict a customer’s arrival time and on-premise location. Real-time location updates enable Giant Eagle associates to prioritize orders based on customers’ arrival times and then bring the orders as soon as they pull up to the curbside pickup area, reducing wait times.

In addition, the FlyBuy mobile software development kit (SDK) is directly integrated in Giant Eagle’s mobile application, providing the Pittsburgh-based regional grocer with a branded, frictionless experience for shoppers.

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Giant Eagle noted that online orders have exploded over the past six months, including exponential growth in Giant Eagle Curbside Pickup orders.

Giant Eagle noted that online orders have exploded over the past six months, including exponential growth in Giant Eagle Curbside Pickup orders. To help process pickup and delivery orders, the retailer transitioned three supermarkets — in Cuyahoga Falls and Garfield Heights, Ohio, and in Pittsburgh (Parkway Center) — to dedicated curbside pickup centers that fulfilled online orders only. The Cuyahoga Falls site remains a dedicated pickup center, while the other two sites have resumed in-store shopping but offer expanded pickup time slots, as do two other stores in Pennsylvania and another in Ohio.

Related:Giant Eagle goes live with checkout-free payment at GetGo store

“The FlyBuy platform helps us better manage the influx of Giant Eagle Curbside Pickup orders being placed,” according to Valery Ciarimboli, vice president of e-commerce operations for Giant Eagle. “Knowing our guests’ ETA and receiving live location updates and arrival alerts has transformed our curbside program for both our team members working hard in the store fulfilling orders, and for our guests who want a speedy pickup experience.”

FlyBuy works by enabling two-way communication between customers and the store designated for pickup. When an online grocery order is ready for pickup, shoppers are notified and prompted to share their location when they’re ready to drive to the store. Store associates automatically receive alerts as customers make their trip to the store so they can prepare and carry the order to their vehicle upon arrival.

“Having a system in place that enables us to ensure an order is ready and waiting when a customer pulls up is essential to our goal of meeting the increased demand with efficiency,” Ciarimboli added.

Overall, Giant Eagle operates 474 food and convenience stores, including more than 200 supermarkets, across western Pennsylvania, north central Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana.

Related:United Supermarkets brings automation to curbside experience

Jeff Baskin, executive vice president of global partnerships for Radius, reported that curbside pickup order volume for the company’s partners has jumped over 500% since the COVID-19 outbreak. And pickup volume is likely to remain high; Radius cited research from Brick Meets Click finding that 75% of online grocery shoppers are likely to continue using delivery and/or pickup service.

“We are excited to work with such an innovative grocer like Giant Eagle, which understands the need for short-term solutions to help get through this time but also has a long-term strategy as the trend for shoppers to move online will continue,” Baskin stated. “FlyBuy Pickup creates efficiencies in-store that allow Giant Eagle to streamline and enhance the guest experience. In a post-COVID world, customers will continue to demand shorter wait times and a frictionless experience, which will be a necessity as curbside and BOPIS [buy online, pickup in store] become the new normal for retailers moving forward.”

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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