Giant Food opens second e-commerce fulfillment center

Dive Brief:

Giant Food has opened an online order-fulfillment center in Manassas, Virginia, allowing the mid-Atlantic grocery chain to expand its grocery delivery service to more than 140 ZIP codes in the northern portion of the state, according to a Tuesday press release.
The grocer will also use the 82,000-square-foot facility to offer services to existing customers in the region including same-day delivery in as few as three hours and free mid-week delivery.
Giant’s decision to expand its e-commerce infrastructure continues a trend that has seen multiple grocers invest in their digital capabilities as they look to reduce their reliance on third-party providers.

Dive Insight:

The introduction of the new fulfillment facility represents Giant’s latest initiative to bolster its online presence in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, where the Ahold Delhaize-owned retailer has for decades been a leading brick-and-mortar supermarket operator.

The center is the grocer’s second e-commerce fulfillment facility and joins an existing 150,000-square foot center in Hanover, Maryland, that has served as the heart of the company’s Giant Delivers operation since the service’s launch in 2019 as the successor to the former Peapod by Giant service.

Giant’s new facility uses the company’s most recent batch-picking software and is equipped with a conveyor system designed to speed up order-assembly processes, enabling the company to offer faster and more frequent delivery options. The center will generate 200 new jobs, Joe Urban, Giant’s vice president of supply chain operations, said in a statement.

The grocer — which announced in January a brand campaign focused around locally sourced products — is stocking the new facility with a broad array of local products from companies in Virginia, including dessert maker Don’t Forget Cake and The Perfect Pita, a restaurant and catering company, according to the announcement. Giant said it also will offer delivery of beer and wine from producers including local beverage suppliers Port City and Solace Brewing.

Giant’s decision to bolster its e-commerce fulfillment capabilities in Virginia follows its decision in late 2021 to lower or abolish some e-commerce fees in a bid to make its digital offerings more accessible to shoppers. Those changes included the elimination of delivery fees for mid-week orders and a reduction in charges for orders placed on other days.