Dive Brief:
- Chicken King, a convenience store hot food vendor, has partnered with Lula Commerce to add e-commerce options for its retail partners, Lula announced on Wednesday.
- The agreement will add Lula’s online ordering, delivery integration and operations management tools to Chicken King’s turnkey foodservice programs. This will allow retailers that use those programs to list for delivery on third-party sites like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.
- Five sites have already gone online with delivery through this partnership, with that number expected to grow to 10 by the end of January, Adit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Lula Commerce, said in an email.
Dive Insight:
E-commerce is increasingly becoming an expectation for consumers, with 52% of them calling restaurant delivery an “essential part of their lifestyle,” according to a National Restaurant Association report earlier this year. That number rose to more than 60% when focusing on millennial and Gen Z adults.
Lula’s program lets retailers connect with major delivery providers while also simplifying back-office management, streamlining operations and enabling real-time inventory management.
“Our platform is designed to reduce the operational burden of digital transformation, allowing partners to focus on what they do best — serving their customers,” Gupta said in the announcement.
Lula Commerce has been rapidly expanding its presence in the c-store space this year. It’s powering delivery for Jacksons Food Stores and select Exxon Tiger Mart stores, as well as being available for more than 800 franchised Circle K locations in the U.S.
Chicken King’s menu features both bone-in and boneless fried chicken and chicken sandwiches, along with sides like potato wedges, honey biscuits and mac and cheese.
The company isn’t the only c-store foodservice vendor helping retailers get into delivery. Earlier this year, Krispy Krunchy Chicken negotiated an agreement to help its retailers easily access delivery through deals with DoorDash and Uber Eats, Jim Norberg, CEO of Krispy Krunchy, said in an interview.
