Unata Powering Growth in Online Sales for Grocers

The widely touted Amazon effect has infiltrated giant grocery chains, and now many brick-and-mortar grocers are turning to a digital shopping experience and home delivery to keep up—and it may be working.

Unata, a Toronto-based startup that builds digital solutions for retailers, reported that five major regional U.S. grocers using the company’s e-commerce platform reported on average a 44 per cent growth in online sales this year. The data refers to growth in both click and collect online shopping and home delivery, seeing a 43 per cent and 46 per cent year over year growth respectively.

“We’re working with regional grocery retailers like Lowes Foods and Lunds & Byerlys who are dedicated to offering the best digital customer experience possible. As a result, our retail partners are experiencing an average same store growth rate that is almost double the industry average,” said Chris Bryson, Unata’s CEO.

Unata’s online grocery retail partners include Longo’s, Raley’s and Roche Bros who have tapped the company for its one-to-one digital shopping tools. The company powers e-commerce, loyalty programs, digital coupons and tailor weekly shopping ads.

“Since launching Unata’s platform in October 2016, we’ve been able to deliver a personalized and convenient digital experience that allows our customers to plan and shop exactly how they want”, said Geoff Farrington, Director of Ecommerce at Roche Bros. “The growth in online sales that we’ve seen is a testament to the quality of customer experience we’re able to deliver thanks to Unata’s platform.”

While Unata’s numbers only reflect the retailers it works with, the growth is a sign of support that traditional grocers can adapt to keep pace with consumer demands.

Last month, Deloitte deemed Unata the 11th fastest growing technology company in Canada. In September, the Toronto startup ranked 15th on Profit 500’s list for fastest growing companies in the country, reporting 3,957 per cent growth over five years.