Fresh Direct started selling groceries online in New York City nine years ago, and in that time, one of its biggest national competitors, Peapod, has circled ever closer to Manhattan. But it has not crossed the river — until now. Starting on Sunday, armed with a hefty budget for parking tickets, Peapod plans to roll its delivery trucks through big sections of Manhattan, and a new kind of food-delivery war will be on.
But winning over Manhattanites, analysts said, will be no easy chore for Peapod, which is affiliated with Stop & Shop supermarkets, a chain that has no physical presence in the borough.
“There’s no doubt New York is the biggest prize that exists with respect to this business,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, a retail analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. “I don’t blame them for going after it, but I think it’s going to be really hard for them.”
Manhattan residents have so many options for fresh-food deliveries and so many sources for groceries, including corner bodegas and Whole Foods markets, that it will be a challenge for Peapod to break through, especially after giving Fresh Direct such a long head start.
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