Dive Brief:

• Southeastern Grocers has partnered with DoorDash to join its marketplace and offer delivery in as soon as 45 minutes, DoorDash announced on Tuesday. 
• The grocery company, which includes the Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie banners, will offer DoorDash delivery of “tens of thousands” of items from more than 400 stores across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The participating stores will also be available on DashPass, DoorDash’s membership program. 
• The announcement furthers DoorDash’s push into the grocery space as it provides delivery services and works up fulfillment offerings.

Dive Insight:

The tie-up with Southeastern Grocers marks another step in DoorDash's journey to push deeper into grocery. 

The company now offers delivery from grocery chains across the country, including Hy-Vee, Albertsons and Bristol Farms. Last week, DoorDash announced it had started offering alcohol delivery in select states from Hy-Vee and Meijer and is allowing customers to create mixed baskets combining alcohol from the retailers with another order. 

The delivery company has focused on encouraging shoppers to build larger baskets. This summer, DoorDash and Albertsons began piloting its DoubleDash service, which lets shoppers bundle orders across grocery, convenience and restaurant channels. DoorDash has said it's exploring dark store services and is preparing to offer rapid delivery to retailers.

For Southeastern Grocers, the DoorDash tie-up furthers its e-commerce efforts and adds another third-party delivery provider to its mix. The DoorDash announcement highlighted Southeastern Grocers' private label, indicating the grocery company is focused on making its own brands prominent to online shoppers. 

On the delivery front, Southeastern Grocers announced partnerships with Instacart and Shipt in late 2019 and teamed up with Uber last year.

In a bid to strengthen its relationship with customers this year, Southeastern Grocers added a gamified element to its loyalty program across its banners, offering members personalized rewards when they complete in-app challenges. The company also linked up with Eagle Eye Solutions and Neptune Retail Solutions to expand its digital coupons and personalized offers. 

To encourage shoppers to order grocery delivery from Southeastern Grocers' banners on DoorDash, the companies are offering 40% off orders of $40 or more through Sunday, and from Dec. 27 through Jan. 2, 2022, customers can get $10 off orders of $35 or more.