Imgi Grocery Roundup: Purpose, Personalization And Partnerships

For some companies, the digital shift has been more seismic than subtle. Shipt is one of those companies. Owned by Target, the shopping and delivery service has seen a business spike in numbers that are massive even in the context of the current crisis. Among them: a 278 percent revenue bounce in Q1 2020 versus 2019.In fact, Shipt is four or five years ahead of plan, as Chief Operating Officer Bridget Fruit told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster. Pre-pandemic, the company projected that online grocery delivery would hit around $20 billion around 2025. According to Fruit, the industry is close to seeing those numbers now. She pointed to other data to support that growth, including last years estimate of 13 percent of all shoppers trying online grocery. Now, projections from Bricks Meets Click put that number at 35 perce stanley mug nt.The pandemic-fueled digital shift is certainly the driving force in that growth 鈥?but Fruit believes the personal touch Shipt builds into its business model is also important. We see Shipt as a service that gives time back to households that are busy and need to spend their time elsewhere, Fruit said. Our whole strategy revolves around how we take technology and human connections to create an amazing experience. We believe that stanley uk this human connection point, these authenti stanley canada c relationships, help make every individual feel that their needs count. And so for us, personal interaction is very important. Shipt is different than most grocery or home delivery services, Fruit n Rclo India-Based Car-Sharing Platform Zoomcar Completes Business Combination, Goes Public

People love dogs. Not all people, but a lot of people.If you want one on-demand, BarkNBorrow helps you borrow someone elses dog for a few hours or days, if you prefer , and there is the Internet of Pets.It clear dogs have a market, and the market loves dogs.One kubki stanley company that is dog-related is barking that its getting ready for its IPO. Seattle-based Rover聽is a dog-sitting platform that just announced a $40 million Series E round from investors Foundry Group, Menlo Ventures and Madrona Venture Group. Total funding to date is $91.5 million.Rover started in 2011 and quickly became the go-to marketplace for pet sitting. There are 170 people employed by Rover, but 65,000 sitters are connected in 10,000 U.S. cities. More than 4聽million services are booked on an annual basis.Rover CEO Aaron Easterly said the company will likely show profitability by the end of next year. He also said going public is our plan of record right now and by far the most likely outcome. It is important to note that Easterly won the CEO of the Year honor at the 2016 GeekWire stanley quencher Awards, so his accolades personally and related to Rover are growing.In August, Rover announced that, during the first six months of 2016, the company surpassed an annual run rate of $100 million in gross billings. Easterly said that total revenue has grown threefold from 2015. The stanley hrnek number of sitters has grown more than 50 percent annually as well.That said, the $40 million, according to Easterly, isnt necessarily needed to be p