Cooperative Food Retailer Offers Digital Ordering Via eGrowcery
Willy Street Co-op, a group of cooperative supermarkets located in and around Madison, Wis., has rolled out digital ordering and fulfillment solutions from eGrowcery, developer of an e-commerce platform for grocers. The co-op is offering online shopping of nearly its entire product range for customer pickup or delivery.
“Our primary stakeholders – the cooperative’s members and employees – wanted a digital solution that makes their lives easier,” explained Ben Becker, Willy Street Co-op’s project manager. “The eGrowcery solution delivers that and more by providing an engaging and intuitive ordering platform for our members that supports the unique needs of our cooperative markets.”
According to Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based eGrowcery, it’s seeing more retailers transition from other e-commerce solutions to the company’s white-label platform.
“Grocery cooperatives like Willy Street can offer their members the same online shopping benefits as the biggest retailers while keeping expenses down,” said eGrowcery CEO Pat Hughes. “eGrowcery is committed to helping them drive digital capabilities that match the cooperative value proposition. We are excited to help Willy Street and other co-ops compete online and in-store with the very largest retailers in our industry.”
In 2019, Progressive Grocer reported on an earlier Willy Street Co-op e-commerce service, which offered delivery to its entire market area, as well as pickup from its Willy North store, the retailer’s largest location. “The grocer launched its first e-commerce site back in 2007,” PG wrote at the time, “but it has come a long way with its newest system, allowing customers to specify whether to allow substitutions on items, and to add product-specific notes.” The collaboration with eGrowcery represents a further advance in the co-op’s e-commerce offering.
Started in 1974, Willy Street Co-op now consists of Willy East and Willy North, in Madison, and Willy West, in Middleton, Wis. When members purchase food and products, they invest in a business they own, as well as supporting local farmers, product suppliers and staff who live and work in their community.
