Q&A: Skip SVP on the delivery app's growing retail network
Last year, Skip, the Canadian delivery company formerly known as SkipTheDishes, announced delivery partnerships with Walmart Canada and Dollarama.
Canadian Grocer spoke to Paul Sudarsan, senior vice-president, marketplace and partnerships at Skip, about the deals, why the future of delivery is hyper local and more, in a Q&A that has been edited for length and clarity.
Why do you believe the future of delivery is hyper local?
Skip is a homegrown Canadian brand from our roots in Winnipeg, Manitoba to now being one of the largest delivery marketplaces in Canada. We sort of pride ourselves on believing we can know Canada best, knowing that we were born here. When we think about Canada, we don’t just think about the large markets, we think about every postal code in this country. Whether it’s Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal or Red Deer or Kamloops, these are all markets that we really pride ourselves on being part of. While our history has been in restaurants, we’ve also now been able to expand into retail. When we talk about hyper local, it isn’t from a geographic standpoint only. It’s also about the local needs of Canadians, depending on their walk of life. You can be an elderly individual, maybe even immobile or not have access to a vehicle, you can be a young parent who has several new needs, or you can be a student on campus—each requires you to think of what challenges and opportunities they have and how we as a marketplace can deliver that.
How are the Walmart and Dollarama partnerships going?
When we initially got into retail, it was based on what we were hearing from customers. We looked at search queries; we looked at the trends of Canadians. Obviously, it’s folks getting back to offices or getting back to more duties outside of the house. We know Canadians are more time-starved than ever. The response since bringing them on has been fantastic and it fits the needs of what we have gone through in our rebrand, which is “Skip to the good part.” It’s about removing the daily hassles from life to do the things you most love to do.
READ: Skip adds Dollarama to its network
How many of the Walmart and Dollarama deliveries are grocery related?
We don’t share that publicly, but our customers are really gravitating toward this service. They’re gravitating toward the value we’re extending to Canadians and the access to these brands. These are brands that our customers have been asking for. We can see that in their search queries; we see that through the recognition of these brands as we’ve brought them on to the network.
How do you see delivery transforming from an occasional luxury into a necessity?
We dropped TheDishes from our name.. That rebrand was about how we were going to continue to invest in Canada and invest in the needs of Canadians as their lives evolve. And we’ve done that in several ways. It might be about preparing for the week ahead with groceries on a Sunday to on a Saturday morning, thinking, “Oh no, I forgot my party supplies for my kid’s birthday, and I need to get some supplies at Dollarama.” We also know value is important for Canadians right now. We’ve launched Skip+, our subscription and loyalty program. We give those loyal members more reasons to get more value—so, no delivery fee or lower service fees. We’ve also partnered with amazing organizations such as CIBC, Live Nation, NHL and WestJet. And Skip is the only delivery platform with loyalty currency points (Skip points). You can also redeem your WestJet points toward your next meal or your next transaction on Skip. So, this is about giving more value to Canadians, especially during a time when we believe they need it most. We’re getting away from this notion of luxury to just everyday necessities, meeting your needs and allowing you to spend time with your loved ones.
What trends are you seeing in grocery delivery?
It’s about meeting the needs of Canadians. We see the needs of Canadians vary across the country. The thing we do best is get whatever the customer wants to their front door in as little time as possible.
What growth do you see in grocery delivery in Canada?
We’re early into this game, but we see a tremendous amount of momentum within this category. We see excitement in terms of what we’ve been able to do so far and there’s much more to come.
