Giant/Martin’s kicks off ‘endless aisle’ service

The Giant Company has gone live with Ship2Me, a direct-to-consumer digital marketplace offering an expanded product assortment beyond traditional groceries.

Carlisle, Pa.-based Giant said Monday that Ship2Me gives customers of its Giant and Martin’s supermarkets a wider range of goods available to order online, spanning such categories as health and beauty care, home and office, pet supplies, kitchen essentials, and snacks and candy.

Products ordered via Ship2Me by Giant and Ship2Me by Martin’s ship directly to customers from the Ship2Me sellers, whereas Giant Direct and Martin’s Direct online grocery orders are either picked up at the store or delivered in a designated time window, the grocer noted.

Seasonal decor and outdoor living are among the product subcategories on the Ship2Me by Giant home and office page.

“Ship2Me by Giant is a natural extension of our current grocery delivery options,” John Ruane, senior vice president of omnichannel merchandising at The Giant Company, said in a statement.

Ship2Me customers can shop for cosmetics, over-the-counter medicines and health products, personal care items, bath and body products, home and seasonal decor, outdoor living products, bedding, toys and games, party supplies, school and office supplies, cookware and bakeware, small appliances, kitchen utensils and tools, pet care accessories, and speciality candy and snacks, among other offerings.

Related:Giant goes live with Ship2Me ‘endless aisle’ service

“By offering access to complementary products not traditionally found in-store, we are adding ‘endless aisle’ shopping options for today’s busy families, all with the convenience of being delivered right to your door,” according to Ruane.

The Ship2Me service carries no minimum order requirement. All Ship2Me items can be received via free standard shipping, which takes four to nine days, and sellers can offer other shipping options such as Express or Next-Day Delivery for an additional fee, Giant said. Return shipping is free. 

Giant said customers also can place Giant/Martin’s Direct and Ship2Me orders in one online shopping transaction. At checkout, the Ship2Me order will be listed separately from the grocery pickup/delivery order. After an order is placed, customers get an email confirmation and, when it ships, a later email with tracking information. Members of The Giant Company’s Choice Rewards, too, can earn loyalty points on Ship2Me item purchases to be redeemed for fuel savings, dollars off purchases, free items and other rewards.

Overall, The Giant Company operates about 190 grocery stores, 132 pharmacies, 107 fuel stations, and more than 150 online pickup hubs, as well as provides grocery delivery service to hundreds of ZIP codes, in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and New Jersey.

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The Giant Company marks the second Ahold Delhaize USA supermarket chain to debut the Ship2Me service. In December, Landover, Md.-based Giant Food launched the Ship2Me e-marketplace, offering tens of thousands of new items. Parent company Ahold Delhaize reported during its Investor Day 2021 event in November that the direct-ship service initially would offer another 40,000 general merchandise and food items. The global food retailer had disclosed plans for an endless aisle offering in the United States late last year and said the selection could grow to 80,000 to 100,000 items.