Madison startup GrocerKey growing with online sales
Company provides ready platform for grocers
Online grocery shopping is the fastest-growing sector in U.S. retail, and a Madison-based startup is along for the ride.
GrocerKey provides brick-and-mortar grocery retailers an e-commerce platform that integrates with stores’ exnew isting merchandising, loyalty and pointof-sale technologies.
GrocerKey’s revenues grew nearly 500% to $2.1 million in 2017. Founder and CEO Jeremy Neren said the company is on track for similar growth this year.
“We’re really just scratching the surface of what’s possible,” Neren said.
The company announced raising a $2.5 million round of financing last week. Since 2015, $4.2 million has been invested into GrocerKey.
GrocerKey’s main customer, Woodman’s Markets, led the financing round. Other investors include Dunnhumby Ventures, the customer science company’s venture capital arm.
Neren started GrocerKey in 2014. GrocerKey has been working on raising the round for some time, and some
of the improvements possible by the cash influx are already rolling out. A couple months ago, GrocerKey enabled customers to use a mobile self-checkout function. Neren said the new funds will also allow GrocerKey to invest in sales and marketing for the first time.
Across the market, grocers have needed to meet consumer demand for online shopping experiences. A survey by the Food Marketing Institute, a retail food trade group, released last year showed a 50% jump from 2016 in the number of people age 18 to 35 who shop online for groceries at least occasionally.
“Everyone talks about how retailers need to become omnichannel,” Neren said. “I think we’re one of the few solutions that has taken the time to step back and take a consumer approach — giving customers that 360-degree view and being able to elevate the in-store experience and shop online.”
All 16 of Woodman’s regional stores use GrocerKey’s e-commerce platform. More than 100,000 Woodman’s orders have been fulfilled through the platform, according to GrocerKey. In all, 15 retail chains use GrocerKey including Southeastern Grocers, Piggly Wiggly Midwest and Kowalski’s Markets.
“GrocerKey has built an impressive track record of growing profitable operations on behalf of its retail clients by providing the tools and technology needed to succeed in grocery eCommerce,” Kyle Fugere, head of Dunnhumby Ventures, said in the release announcing the fundraising.
GrocerKey has 325 employees, with the majority working on fulfilling orders for Woodman’s. Neren said the company has about 20 employees at the corporate level.
Neren first started in the grocery business by delivering food on his bicycle to University of WisconsinMadison students in 2006.