By Craig GiammonaBloomberg
When Amazon.com Inc. acquired Whole Foods as part of its attack on the supermarket industry, it looked like a crushing blow for grocery-delivery startups like Shipt Inc. and Instacart Inc.
If consumers could get their food from Amazon, why would they need a separate delivery service? But rather than make the startups obsolete, the Whole Foods deal helped raise their profile. Grocery chains across the U.S. have enlisted the two companies to help them set up delivery operations, viewing them as key allies in the defense against Amazon.
Shipt Chief Executive Officer Bill Smith has watched it unfold from Birmingham, where he founded the startup in 2014. Amazon’s Whole Foods takeover was a wake-up call for supermarket chains, he said, and business began picking up after the transaction was announced in June.“It was a slow-and-steady approach before the deal, but I think now they know they have to be aggressive,” Smith, 32, said. “The deal moved partnering with companies like us to the forefront.”
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