MyWebGrocer.com Acquires Assets of NeXpansion
NEW YORK - MyWebGrocer.com, a New York-based provider of online services to retailers nationwide, has acquired the assets of NeXpansion, which include the NetGrocer.com direct-to-consumer online grocery business and Endless Aisle technology, a service used by many supermarkets to provide hard-to-find products to customers. MyWebGrocer.com has also announced deals with several of its retail clients to handle the fulfillment end of these businesses.
ShopRite of Oakland, N.J. will license the NetGrocer.com name and service online accounts from its single store.
Meanwhile GA Foods, based in Lowell, Ind., will provide product-order fulfillment for the Endless Aisle service, which offers home delivery of hard-to-find items. Under the agreement GA Foods will ship products from its Amelia's supermarket.
"NeXpansion saw that it was going to be dissolving, so its former c.e.o., Lisa Kent, let clients and customers know, and began discussions with a number of companies to sell assets of the business," Mike Spindler, president of MyWebGrocer.com, told Progressive Grocer. "Most of the retailers who were using the Endless Aisle service went ahead and shut down that component by removing the links from their Web sites."
Spindler said that once MyWebGrocer.com won the bid for several assets, the company began looking for retail partners who could take care of the grocery end of the business. "We looked for retailers that had the space needed, focus on customer service, and a commitment to doing things the right way," he said, emphasizing, "MyWebGrocer.com is not in the business of selling groceries.
"The only thing new to these fulfillment partners is the shipping process," Spindler added. "They are undergoing massive amounts of training now. There will also need to be a little training on customer service for the Endless Aisle service."
Still, he said, both companies are very much entrepreneurs. "They'll be excellent at it."
MyWebGrocer.com is in the process of reenacting both the NetGrocer.com and Endless Aisle services. New deals will be made with the companies that previously offered the Endless Aisle service, Spindler said.
--Jenny McTaggart
ShopRite of Oakland, N.J. will license the NetGrocer.com name and service online accounts from its single store.
Meanwhile GA Foods, based in Lowell, Ind., will provide product-order fulfillment for the Endless Aisle service, which offers home delivery of hard-to-find items. Under the agreement GA Foods will ship products from its Amelia's supermarket.
"NeXpansion saw that it was going to be dissolving, so its former c.e.o., Lisa Kent, let clients and customers know, and began discussions with a number of companies to sell assets of the business," Mike Spindler, president of MyWebGrocer.com, told Progressive Grocer. "Most of the retailers who were using the Endless Aisle service went ahead and shut down that component by removing the links from their Web sites."
Spindler said that once MyWebGrocer.com won the bid for several assets, the company began looking for retail partners who could take care of the grocery end of the business. "We looked for retailers that had the space needed, focus on customer service, and a commitment to doing things the right way," he said, emphasizing, "MyWebGrocer.com is not in the business of selling groceries.
"The only thing new to these fulfillment partners is the shipping process," Spindler added. "They are undergoing massive amounts of training now. There will also need to be a little training on customer service for the Endless Aisle service."
Still, he said, both companies are very much entrepreneurs. "They'll be excellent at it."
MyWebGrocer.com is in the process of reenacting both the NetGrocer.com and Endless Aisle services. New deals will be made with the companies that previously offered the Endless Aisle service, Spindler said.
--Jenny McTaggart