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On an earnings call Thursday, Dollar General CEO Todd Vassos said the retailer “soft launched” the delivery program in September. It now offers same-day delivery to about 75 stores, he said. It is offered by a third-party company, which he did not name.
“We’ve always said here, ‘We’re going to deliver our way when the time comes,'” Vassos said. “We believe it’s time.”
The company expects to eventually expand the offering to “thousands of stores,” he said.
With same-day delivery, the Tennessee-based dollar store is giving in to pressure from other retailers such as Walmart, Amazon and Timo’s that offer lower prices as well as convenience. For example, Walmart has Its online business has grown significantly.The U.S. is posting 10 quarters in a row of double-digit e-commerce gains, as it offers curbside pickup and faster home delivery.
On the other hand, Dollar General doesn’t typically share updates or specific figures about its e-commerce business in quarterly earnings reports because of its heavy reliance on brick-and-mortar sales.
Yet over the past year, the dollar general has Felt the pinch Both from economic challenges and from his own strategy. Consumers, especially low-income households, have pulled back from discretionary purchases due to the cumulative effect of high inflation. Dollar General has also paid millions of dollars in fines for faulty stores and fire exits that have become both workplace safety hazards and a potential turnoff for its shoppers.
In recent months, the CEO of Dollar General has spoken out about this. Losing market share “The people in Bentonville [the Arkansas home of Walmart’s headquarters] took a slightly larger slice of the retailer’s middle-income customer base.
Vassos said the company started its program after learning from its DoorDash delivery, which is available in about 16,000 of its stores.
According to , the new offer, DG Delivery, is available to customers at select stores. Dollar General website. Customers place orders through Dollar General’s app and can get the same store prices and delivery in less than an hour. The program also accepts digital coupons and offers cashback rewards.
According to the website, DG doesn’t seem to charge a delivery fee or require a minimum order.
On Dollar General’s earnings call Thursday, Vassos said Dollar General is still working on its business model for online offerings, but said it would consider using store employees or company-employed delivery people. Instead, it relies on third-party labor. Same-day delivery is also an opportunity to grow the retailer’s advertising business, he said, because customers will engage with the app more often when placing an order.
But this option is still only available at a small portion of Dollar General stores. It has more than 20,000 stores nationwide, many of which are in rural America.