GrocerKey Launches Customizable E-Commerce Platform for Grocers

Independent and regional retailers can now better customize their online needs with GrocerKey Inc.’s newly launched GK Open, a flexible e-grocery platform enabling retailers to easily add the functionality they need to deliver the optimal online experience for their customers.

Madison, Wis.-based GrocerKey combines white-label e-commerce technology, its e-commerce grocery operating experience, and proven strategies to help brick-and-mortar grocery retailers build a profitable e-commerce business.

According to New York-based eMarketer, U.S. online grocery sales will top $100 billion in 2021. As retailers invest in e-commerce solutions to capture increased consumer demand, many find available solutions rigid and technology providers unwilling to accept customization requests due to platform limitations.

"One size doesn't fit all, especially in today's competitive grocery marketplace. Whether retailers have 11 stores or 211 stores, they understand the needs of their businesses and their customers better than anyone," said Jeremy Neren, CEO and co-founder of GrocerKey. "GK Open offers a self-service option to help retailers of all sizes quickly ramp up their online grocery game, to meet those unique needs and achieve profitable growth."

Through the self-service option, retailers' existing IT or developer team can conveniently write and execute custom code in a secure environment to build required functionality. Benefits of GK Open include the ability to:

• Access an extensive library of APIs (application programming interfaces) to implement rapid integrations.
• Execute custom logic when an event occurs on the GK platform, such as when a new user registers or an online order is placed.
• Integrate key business logic such as validation, payment processing and basket order calculations.
• Execute custom logic within the website and mobile apps for purposes such as analytics tracking, custom advertising and third-party solution integrations.
• Deeply customize the user interface of the website and mobile applications to meet design and experience needs.

"In response to growing demand from their customers, our retail partners and prospective clients have increasingly asked for customizations in the platform. We purposefully took a retail-first approach to re-architect the platform to give retailers the option to fully customize every aspect of the platform and control the process," said Daniel Glucksman, CTO and co-founder of GrocerKey. "With GK Open, retailers now have the ability to move faster using their internal resources, on their timeline."

Retailers can choose to make customizations via self-service or with GrocerKey's professional services.

GrocerKey has been riding a wave of steady growth this last year. In June 2020, it revealed its partnership with Chicago-based SPINS, a leading wellness-focused data, analytics and technology provider, to help drive loyalty and conversion for grocery retailers by integrating SPINS’ Product Intelligence Data with GrocerKey’s e-commerce and operations platform. A few months later, GrocerKey was named in Inc. magazine's annual Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. It came in at No. 311. Additionally, the company was able to secure $2.4 million earlier this year from 18 private investors in an equity round, which brought its total funds raised from investors to $9.5 million.