Takeoff Technologies launched its first grocery automated fulfillment center in the fall of 2018. Needless to say, a lot has happened in the grocery space since then, including a global pandemic that abruptly pushed record amounts of grocery shopping online. To keep up with this wave of grocery e-commerce, more grocers have accelerated and adopted the use of automated fulfillment centers like Takeoff’s.
We last checked in with Takeoff during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. At that time, the company had six centers operational and another 20 under construction. Since it has almost been a year since then, we checked back in with Max Pedró, Co-Founder and President of Takeoff Technologies this week. Pedró said that Takeoff now has 13 sites that are live now, and will have more than 40 by the end of this year. Takeoff has partnerships with retailers such as Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize, and Carrefour, with sites running on both coasts of the U.S., as well as in Canada, Australia and in Dubai.
The latest market survey from Brick Meets Click showed that grocery e-commerce dropped between January and February of this year. Usage fell particularly among those over 60, who were among the first groups of people to get vaccinated. Online grocery shopping is expected to go through a market correction this year as vaccinations allow people to move more freely outside of the home.
Source: The Spoon
Omni Talk is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga founded Omni Talk in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail. 