Google Maps is becoming a grocery aggregator. On Tuesday (Nov. 16), the company announced in a blog post that after an initial test in Portland, Oregon during the spring, Google has now rolled out pickup features for more than 2,000 grocery stores across 30 states.
With this integration, the navigation app directs consumers to the store’s online ordering platform; once the order is placed, it offers order status tracking features and lets customers alert the grocer when they have arrived. For now, the feature is only available at Kroger-owned stores.
“We’ve all been there: You spend weeks writing a grocery list to prepare for a big holiday feast, only to realize that you’ve forgotten a key ingredient. Not to worry — pickup with Google Maps is here to help,” wrote Amanda Leicht Moore, director of product at Google Maps. “People who use pickup with Google Maps typically wait less than five minutes for their groceries, meaning you can grab exactly what you need and get right back to your day.”
By adding features like this, Google Maps has the opportunity to take the place of aggregators such as Instacart, becoming the discovery platform consumers use when they need to find a grocery store in their area. In fact, while the pickup feature will show consumers the option to order either from grocers’ direct platforms or from third parties, it will also flag the grocer’s preferred channel (i.e., their direct platform), effectively encouraging consumers to phase out their reliance on Instacart.
The feature targets the mobile habits of a small but growing portion of consumers. According to data from PYMNTS’ study “What Consumers Expect From Their Grocery Shopping Experiences,” created in collaboration with ACI Worldwide, which surveyed more than 2,300 U.S. adults about their grocery purchases, 34% of consumers now buy groceries online. Additionally, 11% of consumers buy online and pick up their order in the store, while 20% of consumers buy online and use curbside pickup. Of those picking up their order in-store, 53% place these orders with their mobile devices, and of those taking advantage of curbside pickup options, 60% place mobile orders.
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Additionally, findings from PYMNTS’ study The Bring-It-to-Me Economy: How Online Marketplaces and Aggregators Drive Omnichannel Commerce, created in collaboration with Carat from Fiserv, which surveyed over 5,200 U.S. consumers about how their shopping habits have changed since the start of the pandemic, showed that a significant share of consumers is using these grocery shopping channels “somewhat” or “much” more than they were prior to the start of the pandemic, with 57% reporting increased use of e-grocery options overall and 28% reporting increased use of curbside pickup.
See also: Bring-It-to-Me Economy Ascends as Consumers Embrace Home-Centric Lifestyles
The feature suggests the intention for Google Maps to dig deeper into contextual commerce opportunities, minimizing friction along the path to purchase for consumers by incorporating shoppable moments into their existing digital routines.
Read more: Contextual Commerce Expands Beyond Social Media
The move comes at a time when many grocers are seeking out ways to create similarly intuitive shoppable experiences, often leveraging the power of content such as recipe videos and articles to drive conversion. Just this fall, for instance, Albertsons Companies announced a shoppable commerce partnership with “shopper-tainment” platform Firework, and Walmart has expanded its partnership with Buzzfeed’s Tasty brand.
Related news: Albertsons Takes Page From Walmart’s Book With Shoppable Video Content
And also see: Walmart Grows Shoppable Content Empire With Buzzfeed Partnership Expansion
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