Today in food commerce, grocery delivery startup Rohlik announces a 220 million euro Series D fundraise, and Instacart debuts an updated subscription program, Instacart+. Additionally, PYMNTS research reveals shifts in consumers’ grocery purchasing behavior.
PYMNTS Data: Two-Thirds of Consumers Not Sympathetic to Restaurants’ Labor Challenges
As restaurants continue to struggle with labor challenges, not all consumers are sympathetic to the difficulties they are facing — the majority are not even cognizant of them. To that point, research from the May/June edition of PYMNTS’ Digital Divide series, “The Digital Divide: Technology, the Metaverse and the Future of Dining Out, created in collaboration with and Paytronix, revealed that only 36% of consumers at least partially agree that the restaurants they visit have become understaffed.
Consumers Buy Cheaper Groceries, Use Digital Channels Amid Inflation
Inflation seems to hit hardest at the dinner table. And because of soaring prices, we’re all getting a bit more creative and strategic when it comes to keeping the family fed. In economics, there’s a principle known as the “substitution effect,” which holds that when the price of a good increases, consumers will shift away from higher-priced choices toward lower-priced offerings. PYMNTS’ data shows that the “substitution effect” is in full force.
Grocery Shoppers Engage More With Brands That Offer Fuel Rewards
As gas and food prices skyrocket, consumers are seeking out retailers that assuage some of their cost concerns with targeted deals and rewards. In May, gas prices rose 466% more than consumer prices overall year over year, and fuel oil prices inflated 12 times as much as prices for items across categories, according to data from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last Friday (June 10).
eGrocer Rohlik Raises $230M for Technology Innovation, Expansion
Grocery delivery startup Rohlik has raised 220 million euros (about $230 million) in a Series D funding round to further its advances in technology, according to a Friday (June 17) press release. The money will go toward innovations like the automation of fulfillment centers and electric mobility, the release stated. Rohlik will also use the capital to further its expansion in its existing countries.
Instacart announces an updated subscription offering, Sprouts partners with Pod Foods, and IKEA tries in-store vertical farming at three of its locations in Germany.
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