It has been over eight months since Gopuff launched our first ever private label brand, Basically, in January of 2022. In those months we’ve launched dozens of items across some of our best selling categories- and it’s been amazing to see some of these items become best sellers on our app. Entering the private label business was seen as a slam dunk initiative...yet, in reality it was a risk and a step outside of our core business model. What our team accomplished in the months leading up to launch was some of the most aggressive, inspiring, and rewarding work of my career. 

When I was first contacted by Gopuff, the idea of launching private label had been born and they were seeking someone to set it in motion. The opportunity was so compelling as it was truly building from scratch. The brands would be fully new, yet Gopuff had the resources, capabilities, and infrastructure to do it the right way. Part of the beauty of the opportunity is that we had years of getting to know our customer base, how they shop, their preferences and needs that I knew would allow us to build something truly game changing for them. Once onboard, I immediately began assembling an amazing team that had the task of launching a private label business the Gopuff way: from scratch in a matter of months instead of having the luxury of years. 

First question to answer…what to launch? A seemingly simple question with a complex answer. We worked closely with our amazing partners on the insights and analytics team to ensure we took a data and insights driven approach that was centered on delivering against what our customers would love.  

We leveraged industry data to consider elements such as private label penetration, brand loyalty, household penetration and rate of purchase in key categories.  We knew this would lead us to lower barrier to entry spaces.  But we didn’t stop there, knowing that we needed to deliver not only based on industry information, but deliver for our unique customer base.  So we paired that information with our internal data and insights.  Our partners on the insights team worked directly with our customers to uncover the spaces where we have the most appeal, where they trust us most and truly where they wanted us to go.  

After robust analysis and many internal discussions it was clear there were three product categories we could enter and excel in: Water, Home Essentials, and Snacks. 

In building this brand, we knew value and quality were foundational to deliver. We identified top industry experts in their categories to partner with us.  As we developed these products,  we also worked with external industry experts, to conduct tests for each category to ensure we developed and launched products that meet and exceed our customers expectations: snacks were tested for their sensory experience (taste, aroma, etc), home essentials were studied for performance and safety, etc. And thus, the “Basically,” brand was born.  

Since launch, “Basically” has been a huge success. Many of our products became best sellers  but one of the more interesting aspects is that they  are most likely to be purchased by our tenured and most loyal customers. These are customers who we have built trust with, that know and rely on our service and have quickly adopted our brands. 

We’re just getting started in this space and excited to launch our future phases of Private Label as we become a company that is trusted for so much more than just instant delivery.