Helping Grocers Manage Their Entire Deli Counter with FoodStorm’s Industry-Leading Technology

Whether you’re ordering a deli platter for the office with freshly sliced meats and cheeses or planning to order a holiday spread from your favorite grocer, many customers turn to their local grocer’s deli and meat departments to order custom items and prepared foods. 

That’s why we’re excited to share that FoodStorm, a SaaS order management system (OMS) from Instacart that powers end-to-end order ahead and catering for grocery retailers, now supports items sold by weight. This includes fresh food and prepared items typically found behind the deli and meat counters – such as deli meats, cheese slices, premade dishes and salads, and specialty items such as Thanksgiving turkeys and holiday hams. With this entirely new functionality within FoodStorm’s OMS, we’re able to help grocers meet demand by offering a single, connected platform to manage their entire fresh food operations – whether in need of holiday catering, deli orders, or quick made-to-order meals. 

With support for items sold by weight, grocers can: 

• Sell this new assortment via their FoodStorm e-commerce website – driving incremental sales opportunities
• Provide accurate and better visibility around pricing – ensuring a better purchasing experience for customers online and in-store
• Offer a streamlined order ahead experience – avoiding customer wait times and improving operational efficiencies 
• Reduce administrative tasks for in-store associates – decreasing the margin for error by eliminating the need to use additional software or tools 

According to FMI’s 2022 State of Fresh Foods report, fresh food departments are a main priority for grocers this year, with 82% of retailers planning to increase the space allocated for fresh-prepared and grab-and-go options in the next two years, including produce, meats and deli items. Until now, grocers haven’t been able to properly sell these types of weighted items and support the entire deli, meat, and seafood aisles with their OMS. With weighted items, grocers can use FoodStorm’s OMS to manage, prepare and fulfill orders that include weighted items, expanding access to the prepared foods and deli counter aisles for customers online and in-store. 

“As customers are increasingly turning to our stores for easy meals and prepared foods, it’s important that we have the right technology and infrastructure in place to manage this complex, fresh food ordering process,” said Erica Racette, E-Commerce Director at New Seasons Market, Good Food Holdings. “With the addition of the weighted item functionality, we are able to move our holiday meal ordering to FoodStorm’s OMS and deliver an elevated customer experience.” 

At Instacart, we enable grocers to more seamlessly manage their entire prepared food offering – from made-to-order specialties to weighted side dishes – to provide the best end-to-end experience for employees and customers. Unlocking access to the entire deli counter is an exciting step forward. Looking ahead, we’ll continue to build new products and technologies to help retailers scale their online and in-store operations to offer customers world-class omnichannel experiences. 

For more information about weighted items, visit https://www.foodstorm.com/blog/feature-spotlight-weighted-items. To learn more about FoodStorm by Instacart, visit www.foodstorm.com. For more information about the Instacart Platform, visit www.instacart.com/company/platform. 

Rob Hill

Author

Rob Hill joined Instacart as General Manager, Order Ahead in August 2021 as part of the FoodStorm acquisition and leads the cross functional teams enabling order ahead retailer solutions as part of Instacart’s Connected Stores strategy. As the CEO of FoodStorm, Rob led the strategic direction and global growth of the business and is particularly passionate about driving business impact through technology. Rob has extensive experience leading SaaS businesses worldwide, having led multiple startup’s global scale up’s across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific in industries spanning retail, hospitality, supply chain and education. Rob is a graduate of Swinburne University of Technology’s Bachelor of Information Technology scholarship program, and an alumni of Harvard Business School. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two young children.