Today in the Connected Economy: DoorDash Delves Deeper Into Groceries

Today in the connected economy, DoorDash continues a string of partnerships with retailers outside the restaurant sphere by teaming up with Sprouts Farmers Market.

Also, Lowe’s introduces its virtual store concept, and Spotify makes its bibliophile customers happy by adding audiobooks to its offerings.

DoorDash Expands Grocery Offerings With Sprouts Partnership

DoorDash is continuing its expansion beyond its restaurant roots with a series of new collaborations with grocery chains.

“DoorDash’s mission is to be the one-stop shop for all local commerce needs for consumers, and that starts with bringing every business on Main Street online,” DoorDash Vice President for Business Development Shanna Prevé said in a news release. “Our goal is to level the playing field for retailers while helping consumers get the best of their neighborhood delivered to them instantly.”

That means joining forces with Sprouts Farmers Market, one of the country’s largest retailers of fresh, natural and organic foods. Starting in October, customers will gain access to more than 375 Sprouts stores using DoorDash to deliver Sprout products to their doorstep.

Lowe’s Brings Digital Twins to World of Home Improvement

Lowe’s has introduced its “interactive digital store twin,” something the home improvement chain says is a first for its industry.

Launching at technology firm Nvidia’s GTC conference, the “digital twin showcases a future in which store associates can visualize and interact with nearly all of a store’s digital data, giving them superpowers to optimize operations and localize plans to better serve customer needs,” the company said.

In the weeks to come, Lowe’s says it will open its virtual 3D product catalog — used to populate its digital twin — to people using Nvidia’s Omniverse virtual world, helping “them create new possibilities in their applications for retail and beyond.”

Spotify Adds Audiobooks to Its Offerings

Pointing to what it said were years of customer requests, audio streaming platform Spotify announced the addition of audiobooks to its selection.

That means Spotify listeners in the U.S. can now buy and listen to more than 300,000 titles, in a new interface crafted especially for audiobooks.

“We’ve always believed that the potential for audio is limitless, and we’ve been saying for a while now that our ambition is to be the complete package for everyone’s listening needs,” said Spotify Vice President and Global Head of Audiobooks and Gated Content Nir Zicherman.

Gr4vy, BitPay, Team to Help Merchants Accept Crypto

Cloud-native payments company Gr4vy has joined forces with BitPay to help merchants accept crypto payments using BitPay’s checkout offering.

The companies say their partnership lets merchants use Gr4vy’s platform to offer BitPay’s crypto payment options without added crypto risk, fear of chargebacks, or high transaction fees.

“Today’s consumers continue to demand alternative ways to pay,” said Gra4vy CEO and founder John Lunn. “Merchants looking to stay competitive can no longer afford not to offer various payment methods, like crypto, or they will find customers opting for merchants who meet their payment needs. Merchants have also begun to consider their Web3 strategy, making the ability to offer and accept crypto payments more critical as they look toward the future.”