Word of mouth puts homegrown grocery delivery startup on national radar
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It was a busy Saturday shopping at Costco that gave Terry Zebian the idea.
If he hated coping with the crowds, maybe others do, too.
The idea gained traction when he was at a grocery store near Cherryhill Village Mall and witnessed a senior with mobility issues struggling to shop.
“I was at Costco and just thought, ‘I wonder if others feel the same way,’ ” Zebian said of shopping.
“I thought, ‘I could do this for other people; it is a waste of a Saturday’ but when I saw someone in a wheelchair having a hard time, I thought, ‘I could do this. I can help people.’ ”
Along with the elderly and those with mobility issues, Zebian saw a market with single parents who did not want to take the kids shopping.
“We wanted to do something unique, be our own boss and own a business,” he said.
Partnering with his brother Zack Zebian, the duo created Grocerocity.com, a London-based grocery delivery business that has begun early expansion into the Toronto-area market and recently was named one of the top grocery delivery businesses in Canada by MapleMoney, a financial advice website.
“It felt great. I want to feel good about what we do and to have customers recommend us just makes it better,” Terry Zebian said.
Grocerocity launched late in 2019 and business boomed during the pandemic of 2020. Since pandemic restrictions eased, the business has retained many clients and sales have doubled since it opened, he said.
“Everyone was saying, ‘Stay home, save lives’ and they did.”
Larry Finch, 50, suffered a serious knee injury and relies on Grocerocity for his shopping. Zebian also will help buy medical supplies.
“He has been helping me for years. He does everything. I call him and he gets me stuff,” Finch said. “They are very important to me.”
He found Grocerocity online and orders off the website, as the business does not have an app.
“The demographics of people in Canada is getting older. This is good for them,” Zebian said.
Grocerocity placed 11th on the MapleMoney list of the country’s top grocery delivery businesses, but many of the others are corporate giants such as Amazon, Instacart, Walmart and grocery chains including Metro and Costco.
“It was really word of mouth that got it started. We had a lot of customers recommending us” to MapleMoney, Zebian said.
“They even sent us links. We wrote them and they looked into us.”
In its review, MapleMoney said the business’s online reviews were “overwhelmingly positive” and praised it for offering restaurant as well as grocery deliveries and even a “fridge fill” option where groceries are put away for an additional fee.
“This is an excellent service for the elderly or anyone with mobility issues,” MapleMoney said in its review.
Grocerocity charges a flat fee of $25 for grocery orders less than $100 and 25 per cent for orders more than $100. It does curbside pickup for $15 for those who want to order their own items.
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