How Hy-Vee C-Stores Are Speeding Up Digital Food Ordering
Hy-Vee has partnered with global food tech SaaS company Deliverect to support the growth and expansion of its digital food ordering. Deliverect is integrating into each of Hy-Vee’s Fast & Fresh Market Grille Express stations for streamlined order and aggregated menu management, ensuring orders are prepared quickly and efficiently. Hy-Vee is also leveraging Deliverect's analytics to make more data-driven decisions on its menu offerings and inventory.
Hy-Vee’s Fast & Fresh convenience stores – with 190 locations throughout the Midwest – are designed to meet the evolving needs of today's time-strapped consumers. Automating the order creation process with Deliverect eliminates manual entry of meal and snack orders, helping staff focus on preparing high-quality meals.
The convenience store sector is experiencing a significant transformation, capitalizing on the opportunity to capture a larger share of the food wallet in the United States. As reported by sister publication Convenience Store News, the food service category – which includes prepared food, commissary, and hot dispensed beverages – now accounts for 26.9% of in-store sales. As convenience stores increasingly enter the food ordering space, delivery apps are becoming essential to meeting consumer demand.
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"Convenience stores are at an exciting juncture as they begin to play alongside restaurants in the food delivery arena, and technology is necessary to make this shift successful,” said Noah Hayes, Americas VP at Deliverect. "Deliverect’s suite of solutions are designed to enable food service businesses to streamline their operations and deliver a frictionless customer experience.”
Operating across more than 52 global markets, Deliverect elevates the omnichannel customer experience at 50,000-plus establishments, including chains like Burger King, Little Caesars, and Pret A Manger.
Hy-Vee began collaborating with Deliverect in January 2024, piloting a custom integration across all store locations. The entire project, from kickoff to completion, took just three months. Hy-Vee’s Fast & Fresh app was developed to leverage Deliverect’s order and menu management. The app reportedly offers a seamless ordering experience – similar to popular platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash. Deliverect also built a custom curbside notification solution, significantly increasing customer convenience and operational efficiency at each convenience store location.
"As a brand with convenience at its core, it’s critical that we meet our busy consumers where they are,” said Jennifer Lambert, SVP of IT strategy and planning for Hy-Vee. “Deliverect's innovative solutions have dramatically increased the speed of our curbside pickup service while providing us with key insights to keep our operations running smoothly and our customers happy. We look forward to seeing how this collaboration continues to evolve in the future.”
Employee-owned Hy-Vee operates more than 570 business units across eight Midwestern states, with sales of more than $13 billion annually. The West Des Moines, Iowa-based company is No. 38 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
