Target Plans to Acquire 2nd Delivery Tech Company
Target is said to be closing in on a deal with same-delivery startup Deliv, an interesting move since Target has owned delivery service Shipt since December 2017.
The Wall Street Journal reported the impending acquisition, saying that Target will buy the company's technology assets, and a number of Deliv's employees — including CEO Daphne Carmeli — will move over to the retailer.
“Our game-changing fulfillment services—like order pickup, drive up and Shipt—have already made same-day delivery and pickup possible for millions of guests,” said Arthur Valdez, Target’s executive VP and chief supply chain & logistics officer. “This technology from Deliv is just one more example of how Target is investing for the future of local delivery.”
Carmeli wrote in an email to its employees that the last Deliv deliveries will take place on or before Aug. 4, 2020, as it slows down its operations.
Menlo Park, California-based Deliv is no stranger to the grocery space, having ended its e-commerce partnership with Walmart in February 2019. Just a month before that, Deliv signed a partnership with Peapod Digital Labs, the digital and ecommerce arm of Ahold Delhaize USA. Last summer, James McCann, formerly the CEO of Ahold USA, was added to Deliv's board of directors.
As online grocery has skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic, Target isn't the only retailer focused on increases its delivery speeds. Walmart began offering Express Delivery with a two-hour guarantee earlier this month, seemingly a response to Amazon Prime Now.
Target operates more than 1,800 stores, 39 distribution centers and Target.com. The Minneapolis-based company is No. 15 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.
