SkipTheDishes, Canada’s largest food delivery network, has launched its Skip Express Lane grocery and household item delivery service.
The new service will include 38 new fulfillment centres by mid-2022 from coast to coast, delivering products to Canadians in 25 minutes or less.
“Skip Express Lane fills an important gap in the market. Canadians will now be able to get everyday essentials and grocery items delivered to your door in 25 minutes or less,” said Howard Migdal, Chief Operating Officer of SkipTheDishes. “Even during peak demand when we’re processing several orders a minute, orders are packed and out the door in under 10 minutes for delivery.
“Skip Express Lanes are local fulfillment centres that will have 2,500 SKUs – grocery items, household essentials – to customers in 25 minutes or less. It was born because we realized there was a gap in the market. In Canada you sort of had two options for deliveries of snacks and every day essentials or groceries. You have convenience stores which already live on apps like SkipTheDishes . . . But then in Canada the other option is click and collect or grocery delivery that typically comes in two hours or time slots or next day. And currently the grocery landscape in Canada was using a service like Instacart (where) you have a third party person going to a big box retail store, shopping for you. That takes a long time. Not very efficient. Things can go wrong. And then driving to your house.
“We know that people want things when they want them and they want things on demand. So the perfect solution to that was Skip Express Lane, building smaller centres, call them 5,000 square feet, that will have 2,500 SKUs – not as much as a grocery store but not as few as a convenience store – so people could get items delivered to them at grocery store prices because of the low cost of our fulfillment centres, but delivered to them in 25 minutes or less.”
Skip Express Lane stores are now active on the network with locations in Winnipeg, London, and downtown Toronto, with Edmonton and Calgary locations opening soon. This national expansion follows the successful launch of Skip Express Lane stores in Winnipeg and London in July and August, and will focus on increasing the availability of household products for customers.
Skip Express Lane opened its first fulfillment centre in Skip’s hometown of Winnipeg on July 29. Each fulfillment centre will operate seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. with delivery fees starting at $1.99, or free delivery for purchases over $25.
The fulfillment centres will be located near residential areas and they will be home to all the products. Ordering will be done through the SkipTheDishes app.
The fulfillment centres will have core SKUs but there will be SKUs as well geared for the different markets.
“Every store will have a local section with local curated products from their city or their neighbourhood and local curated products from restaurants. Maybe a famous restaurant has a barbecue sauce that they will be selling in store. So at the top of every menu there will be a locally curated list of locally famous, regionally famous, products or famous items from local restaurants,” said Migdal.
The company said Skip Express Lane is expected to create about 1,000 jobs across the country.
“We’re thrilled for Skip Express Lane to bring even more value to our customers across Canada, helping Skip to become an indispensable part of the lives of Canadians with an entirely new delivery service,” said Kevin Edwards, CEO of SkipTheDishes. “To us, Skip Express Lane is not just a convenient option for Canadians, but it’s another way we are working hard to support local businesses through the pandemic and beyond.”
