Safeway.com Making Money, Opening New Markets
By George Anderson
Critics contend Safeway has turned-off once loyal shoppers and lost business
with its one-size-fits-all approach to running its acquisitions such as Randalls,
Dominick’s Finer Foods and Genuardi’s.
One area, where Steve Burd and company obviously didn’t feel as though they
knew better was in the company’s Safeway.com venture.
Two years ago, Safeway partnered with Tesco to run its e-tail business. Yesterday
Safeway.com opened for business in Seattle, its eighth market to date, and it
is profitable. As Safeway spokesperson, Mary Marymee told the East Bay Business
Journal, “the grocer wouldn’t be expanding the venture if it wasn’t making
a profit”.
Moderator’s Comment: What are your thoughts on Safeway.com
and the state of grocery e-tailing in the US today?
What does Tesco/Safeway know that everyone else doesn’t?
Gary Sargeant, on loan from Tesco for the past two years to help Safeway.com
get going said, “With our in-store model, we can be profitable with as few as
70 to 100 daily orders (per store). We have costed this out very precisely.”
[George
Anderson – Moderator]