Dive Brief:

• Publix and Instacart have teamed up to launch a convenience service with delivery in as fast as 30 minutes, Instacart announced on Thursday. 
• The service, called Publix Quick Picks, launched in September in Tampa, Florida, and is now available across the grocer's seven-state footprint. 
• The introduction of Publix Quick Picks comes just before the start of the holiday season and marks another grocer using Instacart for white-label convenience delivery within 30 minutes. 

Dive Insight:

Publix is ramping up its online convenience offerings as close competitor Kroger grows its presence in Florida and instant-needs delivery firms expand across the U.S.  

Publix Quick Picks is available on Instacart’s Convenience Hub, which is part of the e-commerce company's marketplace, and on the grocer's delivery site. The service offers a variety of items, including fresh groceries, pantry goods, household essentials, meals and snacks, and has a $10 order minimum. 

So far, Publix has seen customers order a range of items with the rapid delivery service, including premade meals, fried chicken tenders and sushi, along with expected convenience items like soda, candy and beer. 

“Customer demand for convenience and rapid delivery continues to grow, and both speed and selection have become fundamental to grocery ecommerce," Chris Rogers, vice president of retail at Instacart, said in the announcement. 

Publix is feeling some pressure as Kroger scales its e-commerce service in Publix's home state of Florida and rolls out its own store-based convenience delivery service. Kroger, which launched its Kroger Delivery service in Central Florida earlier this year, has ramped up that operation faster than expected, and said last month it plans to enter South Florida with two smaller-size automated fulfillment facilities developed alongside technology partner Ocado that will enable 30-minute service.

Instacart rolled out 30-minute delivery in May and since then has been forging dedicated convenience services with grocers like Stop & Shop, Kroger and The Giant Company. These programs offer a way for grocers to address fill-in trips and impulse buys as companies like Gopuff and Doordash expand their dark-store-fueled services.

In addition to the new convenience service, Publix offers delivery and pickup via Instacart across its store footprint, and alcohol delivery and pickup in six states.