This is a Retail innovation from The 70 Best Trend-Driven Innovations of 2019.

In June, 7-Eleven launched an update to its 7Now delivery app to include thousands of new locations – 7Now Pins – so customers can order to public spaces. Items include food and drinks (including alcohol) and other home goods. The service has real-time tracking, no minimum order, no time-of-day limitation, and consumers can expect to have orders delivered within 30 minutes. 7Now currently covers 27 urban areas in the US.

Who said convenience stores couldn’t get more convenient? Two thoughts for you to ponder:

BRAND BUTLERS. We've talked forever about the relentless expectation acceleration when it comes to convenience. Our BRAND BUTLERS trend was coined way back in 2010 (yikes, this decade flew by!) And while Domino’s launched a similar feature in 2018, this is yet another signal that these expectations never stand still. Think radically about expanding the means and variety your business can deliver. Alibaba nailed it with express condom and sex toy delivery! Busy, choice-laden and demanding consumers will reward brands that go the extra (last) mile. How will you out-convenient your competitors? 

Evolution of the third place. This innovation prompted us to think about the concept of the third place. Consumers traditionally had pretty firm ideas about how locations (home, office, school, church etc.) fit into their lives. Is this example a glimpse of a future with a less rigid designation of places? One where a park is more than a park, and a store is more than a store. Consumers can already use these locations to access more and more services, and perhaps eventually, whatever they need at a given moment. In a world of ubiquitous delivery the third place can be anywhere! How might this evolution impact your business?

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