Grocery shopping and delivery service Shipt has introduced a new option, allowing customers to opt for single deliveries without a long-term contract.
The Birmingham-based company now offers shoppers the option individual orders — purchased singly or in three- or five-packs.
For a $99 annual membership, customers receive unlimited free deliveries on orders of $35 or more. With the new option, customers can pick a single delivery for $10, a three-pack of deliveries for $9 each or a five-pack at $8 each. Customers can switch to a longer-term subscription at any time.
“Ever since Shipt first launched with our subscription membership model, our customers have responded positively. And up until now, all of our customers had an ongoing membership with us,” said Kelly Caruso, chief executive officer of Shipt. “However, we knew that we had an opportunity to introduce even more people to Shipt by allowing them to shop with us in ways that best suit their needs. The challenges consumers have faced during the pandemic further strengthened our resolve to make Shipt as accessible to as many customers as possible.”
When Shipt test-marketed the individual order option, it “quickly accounted for the majority of how new users began shopping with Shipt,” the company said in a news release. “The company saw a 25 percent increase in new customers as a result of the pay-per-order offering.”
While most Shipt users have long-term subscriptions, now nearly 80 percent of new users have started with the short-term options.
The firm was founded in 2014 by Birmingham serial entrepreneur Bill Smith, who sold it to Target in 2017. In addition to its Birmingham headquarters, Shipt has offices in San Francisco.
