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PepsiCo cuts out grocery stores and sells directly to consumers
- crazygringo 6y ago> "...developed from concept to execution in less than 30 days..." I can believe that for a website, but I can't believe that about logistics. How is the site's stock being supplied by PepsiCo? Where is it being warehoused? Who's handling fulfillment? Who's handling customer service? Returns? It goes without saying they must be using a third-party fulfillment center, but still just to set that up, sign contracts, send first (massive) shipments to the warehouse, get all the products registered and stocked... is that possible to do in 30 days for something at the national scale of PepsiCo?
- mark-r 6y agoI'm sure there are Pepsi bottling plants in every major city - my workplace is a block away from one.
- toast0 6y agoWith a quick process, I assum they're either outsourcing the whole delivery portion, or they're reusing their existing distribution network. Their distribution network may have a lot of excess capacity right now, as many smaller retail outlets are closed or seeing less sales. If uptake is slow, they can learn as they go, and then start advertising as things start working.
- radu_floricica 6y agoMaybe they already offered dropshipping? Either that, or they use existing partners for reverse dropshipping: they supply the bulk and take the orders, but use an existing grocery chain to do the packing. And of course, if the business works they gradually move to doing it themselves.
- thekevan 6y agoI think the title is misleading. But "PepsiCo recognizes need for shopping without stores and offers home delivery website as an option" doesn't sound as sexy.
- jnorthrop 6y agoThis is a more important market indicator then your comment implies. I work for a very large CPG and certain brands, such as food staples are crushing it, but impulse type products are really struggling. With uncertainty around when we return to "normal" companies such as PepsiCo are scrambling to figure out how best to connect directly to the consumer to maintain market share. CPGs are investing a ton of resources testing and learning in this space. I haven't commented in this community in a long time, but as you all are entrepreneurs it is worth noting that this moment is an opportunity to disrupt 100 year-old entrenched CPG enterprises as the supply chain to the consumer is in disarray.
- hanniabu 6y agoTo save others the lookup: CPG = Consumer packaged goods
- lotsofpulp 6y agoWhen I was a kid, we were taught in school that before you initialize, you spell it out, and then put the initialism in parantheses afterward.
- cheez 6y agoWhen I became an adult, I realized that people like to feel better about themselves by using short forms that others wouldn't know.
- hanniabu 6y agoEh, if it's part of your job where you're used to using the abbreviation because you're used to everyone around you using it and knowing what it means then sometimes it can be easy to let it slip when having discussions out of work that pertain to your line of work (as with the parent).
- RunningDroid 6y agoLinks to the sites: https://www.pantryshop.com/ https://www.pantryshop.com/ https://www.snacks.com/ https://www.snacks.com/ (Forbes apparently doesn't believe in linking to the site(s) they're talking about.)
- iNate2000 6y agoToo much like advertising. Don’t give away what we can sell!
- criddell 6y agoThe snacks site asks for a zip code up front. I wonder if that changes what products they will ship?
- jasonjayr 6y agoI'd wager it changes the prices -- PepsiCo stamps the price of the product on the package when they stock grocery shelves. Grocery stores probably won't take kindly to their supplier undercutting them with cheaper direct-to-consumer pricing.
- gnicholas 6y agoHm, a 1-serving bag of baked lays for $1.89, and no larger bag sizes available? No thanks. I’m sure there’s a shipping charge on top of that.
- Larrikin 6y ago
- toast0 6y agoThis could be mildy interesting if it (eventually) lets people order parts of their catalog that are less well distributed. There are often limited time flavors that may not warrant shelf space in every store, but likely also don't warrant a lenghty trip to find them. If they could be ordered, that would be nice. You could maybe get these from Amazon, but it would be better to order direct and have the care and attention to detail in packing that Amazon lacks.
- lostapathy 6y agoEven a locator to find the limited flavors would be an improvement. I get around enough that some grocery store stocking it would be not too far out of my way to stock up, but I can’t stop at every grocery store in the metro hoping to find it.
- dangrossman 6y agohttps://contact.pepsico.com/pepsi/product-locator https://contact.pepsico.com/pepsi/product-locator https://www.mountaindew.com/store-locator/ https://www.mountaindew.com/store-locator/ I used these to watch Diet Mountain Dew Code Red slowly disappear from my area, then region, then entire coast over the course of a few years. Haven't had it in ages now.
- lostapathy 6y agoI was using these when the real sugar dr pepper was a thing, and they never seemed accurate. At the time, anyway, it felt like they were flagging the whole regional grocery chain as carrying it, when only select stores ever actually had it. I'd go and there would be no stock, and no place on the shelf for it either.
- adzm 6y agoCan't you still get the real sugar Dr Pepper in Texas?
- starpilot 6y agoNothing like Pepsi straight from the cannery. That fresh crack, that sweet tang, it just hits different from the kind you buy at the store.
- iNate2000 6y agoI wish! No straight-up soft drinks available: only “hydration products”... (must be higher margins)
- axaxs 6y agoKeep in mind, PepsiCo is huge, and not just 'Pepsi' as its name makes one think. They own or are affiliated with a large portion of your typical drink, snack, breakfast, and juice aisles of the grocery store.
- digitalengineer 6y agoI get the combination of products around a theme (like ‘breakfast’). But if you want to sell around breakfast, at least add milk.
- nsl73 6y agoPepsiCo products are typically very unhealthy options. Giving consumers more access to them is bad for public health. I typically support the free market, but I think most of their products are addictive and harmful enough to have their costs increased and supply limited similar to Tobacco and Alcohol products.
- grawprog 6y agohttps://www.fastcompany.com/90425011/coca-cola-nestle-and-pepsico-are-the-worlds-biggest-plastic-polluters-again https://www.fastcompany.com/90425011/coca-cola-nestle-and-pe... Not to mention they're among the largest plastic polluters in the world next to Nestle and Coca-Cola. https://content.sierraclub.org/evguide/blog/2014/07/how-much-water-poisoned-produce-barrel-tar-sands-just-ask-pepsi https://content.sierraclub.org/evguide/blog/2014/07/how-much...
- mc32 6y agoOk, what about ice cream and morning pastries? That said I’m for taxing sweeteners accordingly.
- ReticentVole 6y agoWhy not just cut out the middleman and eat from a bag of sugar directly?
- iNate2000 6y agoDon’t think I haven’t :)
- the_unknown 6y agoFun Dip was basically exactly this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fun_Dip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fun_Dip
- ransom1538 6y agoWow. What a product. I would have killed to see that pitch meeting. Not only do you just eat sugar out of a bag - but the utensil (stick for feeding) is also made of sugar.
- jkinudsjknds 6y agoI wouldn't be so pessimistic. Even as 100% sugar, it's less sugar than a can of coke, and it's not a snack you would binge eat. The sour ones of these were pretty fun to eat as a kid. The unapologetically fun and unhealthiness of wonka products were part of their appeal.
- benatkin 6y agowas? I got worried for a minute. I'm glad it still exists. It's pure junk but much better than soda because it's sold as an occasional treat and not an everyday beverage.
- ta17711771 6y agoI believe the slogans are "Enjoy Coke"/"Enjoy Sprite" - not fuckin subsist or hydrate with Coke.... The marketing is hard to blame in this case, they're just reflecting the disgusting people who decided to glutt.
- mc32 6y agoWhy not work with those home soda machine makers and sell the syrup packages to end consumers so they have freshly made soda of whatever flavor they order?
- iNate2000 6y agoIt’s more about pepsiCO than Pepsi
- 082349872349872 6y agothose exist here, in both carbonated and non-carbonated versions. (then again, we have milk-paste in toothpaste-like tubes that can be reconstituted with water; I suspect the main market for all of these are summer cabins that are both off-the-grid and not close to the road network)
- TheChaplain 6y agoThey own SodaStream already, and you can get syrup packages of Pepsi Max, 7up etc.
- prpl 6y agoTap water quality is generally terrible for carbonation and it would result in a poor product
- Fezzik 6y agoWhy is that? I am genuinely curious but did not find any good links. I use filtered water from a Brita system with my Sodastream and it definitely does not taste like, or as good as, industrial carbonation. I had always assumed the limiting factor was the amount of pressure the system can withstand so the water is not as carbonated.
- def8cefe 6y agoThe way the syrup mixes with the carbonated water is different in a commercial pop tower and causes a better mix. I think you're correct about carbonation as well. Any time you've had fountain pop it's just been made with straight municipal tap water.
- fanatic2pope 6y agoThat reminds me of when I was a kid in Ontario and we had pop delivered in refillable glass bottles the way other people had milk delivered.
- kevindong 6y agoI'm curious about the economics of this. It appears that both of the new websites offer free shipping with fairly low minimum purchases ($15 and ~$30). The products being offered almost universally cost a lot to ship (by either being high weight for liquids or high volume for chip bags) while being very low value.
- CapriciousCptl 6y agoMy bet is they’re repurposing the delivery vans and light trucks normally used to restock restaurants, vending machines and like. If they get the route planning right it’s not so bad but probably gives worse margins than their grocery store channels.
- AdrianB1 6y agoI can see a case in some places for some people; for example during the pandemic lockdown I ran out of some of the stuff I usually buy; for me ordering 3 months worth of stuff 4 times a year and delivered directly at home is much more convenient than buying it weekly or every 2 week together with the usual grocery. I am lucky to have the space to deposit 3 months of their product (we don't consume too much of it, just juice and some Pepsi Twist) and for the right price and convenience I would be a great client for them; I would even do a subscription with automated payments, like the netflix one.
- conradfr 6y agoThey say they built it in 30 days but I remember an elixir job ad from last year where they were already hinting at selling directly to consumers. Found it: https://www.pepsicojobs.com/main/jobs/206608BR?lang=en-us https://www.pepsicojobs.com/main/jobs/206608BR?lang=en-us
- rootusrootus 6y agoNot a bad idea. I can think of a couple improvements: 1. Let me search, I don't want to scroll through a hundred options. 2. Bring more flavor variety. Hello, ketchup chips!??!
- gamblor956 6y agoPepsi didn't stop selling to grocery stores. They just started selling directly to consumers in addition to their existing channels. Coke has been doing this for years...
- mrfusion 6y agoThe main value would be to avoid retail markup and give costumers those wholesale prices. The article seemed quite in that point.
- mrfusion 6y agoTangentially I never understood. If a consumer would be willing to buy a few year supply of a non perishable product, why isn’t there a way they can purchase at wholesale prices? Assume they’d be buying in the same bulk that a connivence store would buy for a months supply. For example, if I have a certain protein bar I ate twice a day. Why can’t I buy a years supply at wholesale?
- Jolter 6y agoDid you try contacting a wholesaler?
- mark-r 6y agoNot sure about protein bars, but sodas are often sold as loss leaders at grocery stores when on sale. I doubt you could get them cheaper wholesale.
- grogenaut 6y agoMy grocery usually has soda not in sale so it's $6.50 a 12 pack and I know it doesn't cost that much since it's on sale for $1.62 the rest of the time. Which leads to the soda not being bought or the aisle is empty as the only two conditions
- mark-r 6y agoWow, I've never seen such a stark difference. Normal price for a 12-pack here is probably $5, while sale price might be around $3.
- deegles 6y agoAny idea how much snacks.com could have sold for? A quick Google search didn't bring anything up. I'm guessing at least low 7 figures...
- mark-r 6y agoThe title implies that Pepsi will stop supplying grocery stores, while the article makes no such claim. Very misleading.
- GordonS 6y agoI read about a large beer brewer doing this recently too, testing the concept in Brazil first - I think it was AB InBev. I think if makes sense to open a new sales channel, but it can't be easy for a manufactering org to build the processes and infrastructure for this - it must be like starting a whole new company from scratch.