About IGA
IGA (Independent Grocers of Australia) is a group of over 1,400 independently-owned supermarkets across Australia. In 2013, Jorge Rocha became one of the owners of IGA Nollamara, located in a suburb of Perth in Western Australia.
"What makes us different from the larger supermarket chains is we focus on customer service," says Jorge. "I encourage my staff to know all of our regulars by name, we get compliments about our service on a daily basis. People love having that connection with their local store."
The Challenge
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia, grocery delivery became especially important. In June 2020, IGA's wholesaler company Metcash implemented a home delivery service to support healthcare workers and other vulnerable customers. This helped IGA Nollamara kick off their home delivery service, but with limited success due to the target audience.
"Many of the big supermarket chains were able to offer free delivery and advertise their delivery offerings right away to a wider range of customers, getting a head start on us," Jorge explained.
Jorge started looking into third-party partners to boost delivery sales. He needed a platform that delivered groceries to a wider range of customers but didn’t add complexity to his current operations.
DoorDash helps us get extra sales with virtually no impact to our capital expenditure and cost of sales, which makes a major difference for independent stores like us who run businesses in a very competitive industry.
The Solution
It wasn’t until Jorge spoke with DoorDash about grocery delivery that he decided to make the leap. He felt confident after hearing about DoorDash’s established success in the US and its potential in the Australian market.
IGA Nollamara launched on DoorDash in December 2020, and Jorge was immediately impressed with the experience. "Everything from the pre-set menu to setting up the tablet was well thought-out. It was breezy to get up and running," said Jorge.
With DoorDash’s Merchant Pick option his own knowledgeable team quickly packs orders before handing them off to Dashers for delivery. This streamlines operations and ensures the accuracy and service his customers expect. Grocery merchants on DoorDash can also opt for Dasher Shop, where Dashers pick and purchase the items for the customer.
The Results
In a recent review of the past 30 days, IGA Nollamara saw a 250% increase in DoorDash sales, and 200% increase in DoorDash orders. They also saw a 44% growth in average DoorDash order size, suggesting that customers are placing larger orders as they get more familiar with the delivery service.
"What’s really evident about our success with DoorDash is the new customers," shared Jorge. "A large portion of our DoorDash sales is from first-time customers and we’re still growing, so we’re very impressed with that."
Looking ahead, Jorge will continue to invest in driving sales through DoorDash. "The return we’re getting with DoorDash is far more than anything we’ve done with coupons or new product offerings," Jorge said. "Grocery delivery is still in the very beginning stages in Australia but it’s going to explode, and I think the future looks very bright for us."
