Online Grocer Blue Apron Lands $135 Million funding, Same-Day Delivery Could Be Next

Courier ServiceIt is becoming an online feast for shoppers to enjoy making all types of purchases.  New retailers are entering a variety of markets and offering everything that a customer could think of, even make-at-home meals.  That’s right.  Blue Apron may have found a big niche and their recent numbers are showing it.

Blue Apron is a grocery delivery service that will deliver a recipe and the required ingredients for it to your front door.  They are based on seasonal ingredients.  Internet Retailer has reported that Blue Apron has now raised $135 million in a funding round led by Fidelity Management and Research, with participation from existing investors also.  Blue Apron is the fastest growing e-retailer on Internet Retailer’s 2015 Top 500 Guide.  Its’ sales surged to $65 million in 2014, which is an increase of 550.2% from the previous year.  Blue Apron was launched in 2012, and has raised $190 million to date.

What’s even more impressive is that Blue Apron currently delivers over 3 million meals per month.  Its’ volume is up 50% from six months ago.  The numbers indicate that online retail is moving beyond just a trend, but entering into a way of life, even with our very own groceries.  It saves the work put into going to the grocery store, finding all of the ingredients, and maneuvering through traffic to get home to cook.  When you arrive home, the food and recipe is there.  The report mentioned that the grocer company sells meals for two or a four-person family.  It will be interesting to see if Blue Apron will go same-day delivery to offer even more service options.

Blue Apron co-founder and CEO Matt Salzberg discussed its’ mission and what the company’s additional financing will enable Blue Apron to do.  He stated, “Our mission is to make incredible home cooking accessible to everyone. This financing will allow us to further improve the efficiency of our model, from sourcing to fulfillment, in order to bring our customers a level of quality that has never been available at scale before.”  This is a creative service for those who can cook and those that desire to learn, making home cooking not only accessible, but convenient.  Customers are looking to save their time and Blue Apron appears to have found a way to do so–in the kitchen.

With grocery delivery beginning to really make an upward swing, more and more online retailers will seek after sound delivery models to get their products to their customers on time.  A number of e-retailers and brick-and-mortar retailers have partnered with a same-day courier like 1-800 Courier to create an optimal same-day delivery logistics solution for small packages, electronics, household goods, and more.  A courier can also be a viable delivery option for online grocery shopping to meet their order fulfillment needs also.  The Los Angeles Courier has the expertise for not only local, but nationwide solutions for same-day services and can do the same within the grocery sector.  As online grocery demand grows, retailers will need a delivery service that can grow along with it.

Reference:  6.9.15, www.internetretailer.com, Thad Reuter, Fast growing online grocer Blue Apron raises $135 million