PepsiCo launches two direct-to-consumer websites for snacks and beverages to meet demand for at-home eating
PantryShop.com and Snacks.com were developed in less than 30 days, said PepsiCo, by leveraging the company’s technology, insights, resources, and inventory to meet consumers’ evolving needs.
“Over the last few years, PepsiCo has been working to be a faster, stronger, better company, one that is laser focused on meeting consumer needs and winning in the marketplace. Investing in e-commerce and digital capabilities and talent has been – and will continue to be – a big part of that effort,” Gibu Thomas, senior vice president & head of eCommerce, said in a May 11 release announcing the launch.
On PantryShop.com consumers can order specialized bundles of PepsiCo’s top-selling brands including Quaker, Gatorade, SunChips, and Tropicana organized within specific categories such as “Snacking” and “Workout & Recovery” to meet current consumer preferences as they adjust to working and exercising at home.
The multi-product pantry kits are priced at $29.95 and $49.95 and come with free standard shipping.
On Snacks.com, consumers can choose from more than 100 Frito Lay products (Lay’s, Tostitos, Cheetos, and Ruffles) as well as dips, crackers, and nuts.
"In addition to buying for themselves, consumers can ship products as gifts to friends and family via both platforms and the majority of orders on PantryShop.com and Snacks.com will arrive within two business days," according to the release.
“We’ve seen incredibly strong demand for our snacks during this time, and Snacks.com offers consumers another way to purchase the products they love, delivered right to their door,” Michael Lindsey, chief transformation & strategy officer for Frito-Lay North America, added in the release.
Snacking behavior during the coronavirus pandemic
Snacking has taken over consumers’ day-to-day eating habits with 46% of consumers (aged 18 to 54) reporting that they often eat snacks instead of meals at home, according IRI sales data from the last few months.
“There are a lot of occasions at home now that they were not there six or seven weeks ago. We're seeing our multipacks, our variety packs increasing massively,” said PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta on the company’s Q1 2020 earnings call April 28.
“The beauty of our snacks is that, it can only last for a certain period of time and they have expiry dates. So consumers will eat them. They will not stock them forever. So we see the cycles of repurchase also very clear on the snack business and those are products that people buy, put in their pantry and they get consumed by the whole family.”
The global food and beverage giant has kept its supply chain flowing to brick and mortar stores by hiring 6,000 additional workers at the onset of the impact (while implementing stringent health and safety measures for all employees) but added that it is investing in its e-commerce business as consumers' online grocery shopping frequency heats up.
Online snack purchases are outpacing online purchases of the total food and beverage category with snacks registering a 46% sales increase compared to +32% for total F&B, according to IRI sales data from Jan. 20, 2020 through April 5, 2020.
“We're reallocating resources from other parts of the P&L into e-commerce and capturing consumers in that particular channel, and then obviously, we'll be -- keep investing to retain those consumers as they probably stay in the e-commerce,” Laguarta said. “We want to invest in some of those brands that are getting consumer tailwinds now, because we want to retain those consumers with the brands as we exit the crisis situation.”
