FOR LOCAL GROCERY OPERATORS
Build a Local Grocery Business Your Way
Start with delivery. Build toward something bigger.
A local grocery business can start with something as straightforward as shopping and delivering groceries for customers in your area.
You don't need a storefront, warehouse, or large inventory to begin. Start with the services your market needs, build repeat customers, and expand your operation when demand justifies it.
Co-Op Shopper provides business-focused website Platforms and Product Assets to help you build an independent operation around your own customers, pricing, service area, and business model.
Start with a simple local service
Build repeat customers and recurring orders
Expand your capabilities as demand grows
You Don't Need a Grocery Store to Start a Grocery Business
Shop & Deliver
Customers submit their grocery needs. You shop locally, deliver their orders, and charge according to your own business model.
Good starting point:
Low infrastructure • Direct customer relationships • Flexible service area
Scheduled Grocery Service
Move beyond individual requests by establishing ordering windows, delivery days, repeat customers, and more predictable purchasing.
Next level:
Planned orders • Repeat customers • More efficient routes
Build Your Own Product Catalog
Give customers products and purchase options they can order directly through your website instead of handling each request manually.
Build structure:
Online products • Your pricing • Easier repeat ordering
Add Pickup When It Makes Sense
As your business develops, a suitable location can create another fulfillment option and reduce the amount of individual driving required.
Expand capacity:
Scheduled pickup • Consolidated orders • More customers per fulfillment period
TURN SHOPPING INTO A BUSINESS
Move Beyond Being Just the Person Who Delivers
There is a major difference between completing individual grocery deliveries and building a local grocery business.
Your Customers — Build relationships with your own customers instead of depending on a third-party delivery app.
Your Pricing — Determine product pricing, shopping fees, delivery charges, minimum orders, and other service policies.
Your Schedule — Create ordering and fulfillment windows that make your operation more efficient.
Your Brand — Give customers a business they can return to directly for their next order.
Complete Grocery Products
Sell familiar grocery, household, warehouse-club, and local products in their normal retail configurations.
Costco Smart Portions
Eligible Costco multipacks can create factory-sealed individual units and purchase options that may not be practical for a small operator.
Grocery Bundles
Combine complementary products into convenient grocery solutions for customers, occasions, or recurring needs.
Your catalog can begin small and become more specialized as you learn what your local customers actually buy.
THE LOCAL GROCERY HUB
A Local Grocery Business Can Grow Into a Hub
As demand grows, an appropriately located commercial space can become more than a place to prepare orders.
A Local Grocery Hub can bring product sourcing, order preparation, pickup, delivery, and independent operators together in one location.
Positioned near warehouse retailers such as Costco—and near the communities or destinations it serves—a hub can create capabilities that smaller operators may not have on their own. It can also become a central fulfillment point for orders generated by local businesses, hospitality partners, and independent operators.
Product Sourcing & Preparation
Source full retail products and eligible warehouse multipacks while providing appropriate space for order preparation and permitted Smart Portions activities.
Orders From Multiple Sources
Serve direct customers while developing relationships with property managers, hotels, resorts, concierges, transportation services, meal providers, and other local businesses.
Independent Operator Support
Provide staging, pickup, preparation, or fulfillment capabilities for independent shoppers and delivery operators who don’t need—or aren’t ready for—their own facility.
Local & Destination Fulfillment
Coordinate customer pickup and delivery while using independent operators to serve homes, businesses, hospitality properties, and nearby destination markets.
The hub doesn’t have to do everything — One business can provide the location, sourcing, and infrastructure while other independent businesses contribute customers, delivery, hospitality relationships, local products, or specialized services.
START LOCAL. BUILD FROM THERE.
Build the Grocery Business That Fits Your Market
You don't need a hub, storefront, or large operation to get started. Begin with the customers and services you can support today, then add products, capabilities, and partnerships as your business grows.
Co-Op Shopper gives you a starting point—and a path to build from there.