Dive Brief:

• Vroom Delivery, a convenience-retailer-focused e-commerce company, has integrated with Uber to improve c-store delivery options, according to a Monday announcement.
• Retailers using Vroom Delivery's back office, inventory and loyalty products can now take orders via the Uber Eats app, as well as use Uber Direct — its white-label delivery fulfillment platform — to take orders from merchant-owned channels, according to the announcement.
• Several of Vroom and Uber’s mutual customers have already signed up for the new program, and both companies expect more to register in the near future, according to the announcement.

Dive Insight:

This continues a series of partnerships for Vroom, which aims to help c-store retailers build their e-commerce and delivery options while keeping their digital inventories up-to-date. It also integrates with Punchh loyalty, PDI, Paytronix and other e-commerce companies.

With its latest integration, Vroom is taking advantage of the delivery drivers in Uber’s network and simplifying the online ordering process for retailers using its platform. Retailers that use both Vroom and Uber Eats can have orders from both channels automatically rung up and routed to a single tablet. Additionally, Vroom customers that now also use Uber Direct can deliver age-restricted items across most of the U.S., according to the announcement.

Uber is also incentivizing c-store retailers on Vroom’s platform that also use Uber Direct for their white-label fulfillment, according to the announcement.

“Our unique integrations and automation in the industry combined with Uber's network of independent drivers and the Uber Eats Marketplace will both lower costs, improve efficiency, and increase the range of items consumers can get delivered,” John Nelson, CEO of Vroom, said in the announcement.

The integration also targets stores on the Uber Eats app. Those stores can use Vroom’s menu management services to create online menus with thousands of products and automated inventories, according to the announcement. This helps grow average basket sizes and decrease the amount of out-of-stock items listed online, since such items can be automatically pulled from menus as soon as the store runs out.

Miami-based Vroom Delivery works with over 3,000 regional and national c-store chains across nearly 40 states.