Stop & Shop brings Peapod online grocery service under its banner

Stop & Shop has integrated the Peapod online grocery service, operated by parent company Ahold Delhaize USA, into its website and mobile app and launched a digital loyalty program called Stop & Shop GO Rewards.

Customers who previously used Peapod.com and the Peapod app can now order groceries directly at StopandShop.com or by using the free Stop & Shop app, Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop said Wednesday. The integrated service also enables users to build a shopping list, shop directly from the weekly digital circular and in-app and on-site promotions, complete their order online and choose store pickup or delivery to receive their groceries.

Stop & Shop noted that the service switch will be seamless for previous Peapod users. Account information, orders and history will automatically transition to the new Stop & Shop Pickup & Delivery platform when customers log into their Stop & Shop online account. New customers can set up a Stop & Shop account and start shopping immediately.

The integrated service comes just over a month after Stop & Shop announced plans to boost its omnichannel capacity by adding three new “warerooms” to fulfill online orders and launch 50 more pickup locations this year. The expansion would give Stop & Shop 262 pickup sites and 24 warerooms, plus one warehouse, across its Northeastern footprint. The company also has expanded Instacart same-day delivery to 321 stores.

Related:Stop & Shop to add 50 more Pickup locations by year-end

“Stop & Shop prides itself on making things easier for our shoppers, and this new digital experience does just that,” President Gordon Reid said in a statement. “It’s centered around one seamless website and mobile app that will provide our customers several ways to shop the wide assortment and everyday savings they count on with Stop & Shop.”

The service switch will be seamless for Peapod users, as all of their account information will migrate to Stop & Shop's new platform, the company said.

Stop & Shop GO Rewards, meanwhile, will offer customers more opportunities to earn rewards and save 15% or more on their purchases, Stop & Shop said.

Integrated into StopandShop.com and the Stop & Shop app, the digital rewards program awards shoppers one GO Point for each dollar spent in-store or online. Customers can use their GO Points in several ways, choosing from money off their next grocery order, gas savings at Stop & Shop fuel stations and participating Shell stations, or donations (GO Points cash equivalent) to their local food bank. The previous loyalty program only offered fuel rewards.

“GO Rewards delivers personalized digital offers and exciting new ways for our customers to save and to use their points,” according to Rachel Stephens, vice president of digital loyalty at Stop & Shop. “Savings at Stop & Shop add up quickly, and we hope this revamped program will help our customers to see the tremendous value we offer both in-store and online.”

Related:New Giant Food online platform integrates Peapod and Giantfood.com services

Overall, Stop & Shop operates more than 400 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

Stop & Shop is the latest Ahold Delhaize USA supermarket chain to integrate Peapod into its digital services. In late June, Landover, Md.-based Giant Food incorporated Peapod into the updated Giantfood.com website and Giant Food mobile app, both of which also integrate the Giant Flexible Rewards Program. Carlisle, Pa.-based The Giant Company, which operates the Giant and Martin’s supermarket banners, is the other Ahold Delhaize USA chain that currently uses the Peapod service.

Ahold Delhaize USA shut down the stand-alone Peapod online grocery operation in February, as the company began refocusing e-grocery services on its local retail brands. The Chicago-based unit served customers placing online delivery orders in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. Peapod Digital Labs, also based in Chicago, now provides e-commerce technology and services for Ahold Delhaize USA’s supermarket brands. A pioneer in the grocery delivery arena, Peapod was founded in 1989, and the Peapod.com website launched in 1996.