Convenience stores have built their business around speed and accessibility, and now many are extending that promise beyond the physical store through digital channels. As consumer expectations increasingly shift toward on-demand commerce, 7-Eleven is testing a new mobile ordering platform designed to bring its products directly to customers through delivery or rapid pickup options. The launch of 7-ElevenNOW reflects a broader effort by retailers to blend convenience, loyalty, and mobile technology into a seamless shopping experience while exploring how digital commerce can complement traditional in-store purchasing behavior. As the pilot expands, it may provide valuable insights into whether convenience store customers are ready to embrace delivery for the everyday items they once purchased exclusively on impulse.
7-Eleven is putting extra convenience in its C-stores with an on-demand mobile app. The big C-store chain is testing its 7-ElevenNOW in Dallas area stores, as the following article explains.
7-Eleven Inc. is testing on-demand ordering for delivery or in-store pickup at select Dallas, Texas, stores with its new 7-ElevenNOW smartphone app. Currently being tested in 10 downtown and uptown 7-Eleven stores, 7-ElevenNOW is expected to roll out to other U.S. locations in 2018. Customers in the Dallas area who enroll in the new app will receive free delivery on their first order. The app can be downloaded from Google Play or Apple App stores.
As it undergoes a significant digital transformation, 7-Eleven says that it continues to look for ways to expand and enhance the company’s shopping footprint, and consumers’ digital shopping experience, outside its stores.
“Today’s digitally savvy consumer expects a wide range of options right at their fingertips and 7-Eleven is delivering on that promise,” said 7-Eleven Chief Digital Officer Gurmeet Singh. “We continuously ask our consumers how we can make their lives better, and 7-ElevenNOW is a proprietary solution to their on-demand needs. The app will enable our customers to get the products they want, when and where they want them, quickly and conveniently. This is redefining convenience.”
When ordering items through 7-ElevenNOW, customers can choose to receive direct delivery to their location or pick up their prepared order at the participating store of their choice within the 7-ElevenNOW footprint. A selection of snacks, cosmetics, gift cards, home goods, beverages and hundreds of other products are available for purchase on the app.
At first glance, 7-Eleven’s on-demand app seems to be a logical addition to its digital commerce offerings. Its current 7Rewards customer loyalty mobile app is a natural fit for the quick and frequent, grab-and-go shopping pattern at C-stores. However an on-demand service, especially one that includes a delivery option does not appear to sync with the drive-to and impulse buying behavior at C-stores. This market testing phase in a limited amount of stores will be quite revealing and perhaps may show that C-store customers like their Big Gulps delivered as well as purchased in the store.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Goup
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