Delivering groceries & simplifying lives

Shoppers at the Publix at Edgemont Town Center have been spotted sporting green T-shirts with spaceship logos. What’s the deal?

These T-shirts, not to be confused with the Publix-issued green vests, serve as the uniform for the personal shoppers of Shipt, a Birmingham-based tech startup that offers on-demand grocery delivery. Shipt is the brainchild of Homewood resident Bill Smith, and it is making waves in Homewood and beyond.

In regards to the development of Shipt, founder and CEO Bill Smith set out with a mission to simplify peopleʼs lives. 

“I had no idea when I started Shipt that it would turn into grocery delivery,” he said. Launched in 2014 as an app for same-day product delivery from national retailers, Smith soon began receiving emails from customers requesting a grocery delivery service.

It wasnʼt until Smith and his wife ventured to the grocery store shortly after their second child was born that Smith said he realized these customers really were on to something.

After that chaotic shopping experience with their newborn and toddler in tow, Smith walked out of the store, turned to his wife, and said, “We have to find a way to make this easier for families.” That revelation led to Shipt transitioning into the grocery delivery service that it runs today.

Using a smartphone app, Shipt members select the groceries they want and a desired delivery window. After that, they wait for their personal shopper to arrive with their items.

Smith said the social media hashtag #shiptlife was created by members and represents everything one can do with the time freed from grocery shopping.

For banker and Hollywood resident Blake Davidson, #shiptlife means going to the park with his wife and two kids on Sunday afternoons instead of the grocery store. For physician, new mother and Edgewood resident Starr Steinhilber, #shiptlife means the ability to stick to her daughterʼs nap schedule and complete yard work or other house projects.

“I really like grocery shopping, so I wouldnʼt use Shipt if it didnʼt actually help,” Steinhilber said.

“Our membership base is pretty diverse. We serve busy moms and also young professionals, people who are homebound and people who work nontraditional hours ... basically anyone who is looking for one less errand to run,” said Anne Adams, community manager for Shipt.

The Shipt shoppers are men and women, students and retirees, stay-at-home moms and full-time shoppers — people wanting to earn extra income on their own schedules. Shipt, which has been described as “the Uber for groceries,” works as a business model where shoppers can take on as many or as few orders as they would like.

Samford student Gabby Philips said she discovered Shipt when she proposed a fictional grocery delivery service for a school project and was required to research her real-life competitors. When she stumbled upon Shipt, she said applied to be a shopper.

It “works great with my rotating class schedule,” she said.

Shopper Brenda Ardy is a Homewood resident and nursing student at Lawson State. She said she found out about Shipt from a friend and says she typically runs two to three orders a day.

Ardy said she appreciates the flexibility of the job and said she will not claim orders if she has a hectic week with a big exam coming up.

Shipt recently launched a partnership with Western Supermarkets, which makes Birmingham the first city where a Shipt member can select between grocers, Adams said.

“We turn to our members on social media a lot, and weʼre finding that choices are what our members are wanting to see,” she said. “We are excited to have the technical capability to offer our members options for where they can shop.”

Available Western deliveries include the Mountain Brook and Rocky Ridge locations and do not extend the full radius of Publix deliveries, but are available in the 35209 ZIP code.

Shipt is simplifying lives and creating jobs well beyond Homewood and Birmingham, officials said.

Shipt is up and running in 24 cities in nine states and is constantly expanding.

“Demand for grocery service is there because itʼs a tough problem to fix ... but weʼve found a solution,” Smith said.

Visit shipt.com for more information.