Internet grocer SimonDelivers.com posted the first profitable quarter in its six-year history, recording EBIDTA-positive results for its second quarter ended March 27, according to CEO Christopher Brown, though the company still hasn’t reported net income. Privately-held Simon Delivers didn’t disclose revenue but Brown says EBIDTA earnings for the quarter represented an 80% improvement over the year-ago quarter.
Brown says Simon Delivers has driven up average basket size from $111 to close to $130 over the past year and a half with improvements such as the addition of some 2,500 new food items during that time, and lengthening the ordering time cut-off for next-morning delivery from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. the night before.
Simon Delivers, which already offers about 60 ready-to-cook entrees, will in June roll out Simon`s Diner, a collaboration with local chefs and a local catering firm, which will feature about 2 dozen fully-prepared meal items.
What started mid-season last summer as an experiment will be re-instituted this summer with Friday deliveries to Brainerd, MN, two and a half hours north of Simon’s Twin Cities core market, a popular vacation home locale where average orders are $190 to $210, Brown says. Simon Delivers also will shortly roll out Saturday delivery across its core market area after testing it on a limited scale.
Brown adds that Simon Delivers also has invested in researching its customer base, intelligence which will form the basis of more segmented online marketing efforts this year; for instance, reaching out to customers determined to be active buyers of organic foods when new organic items become available.
Noting that Simon’s Q1 results were 30% ahead of a year earlier, despite significant investments during the quarter, Brown adds, “We’ll continue to invest in customer relationship optimization, expand Saturday delivery and get ready to roll out same-day delivery as well. We think that positions us for a very positive fiscal 2006.”
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