Ecommerce platforms for grocers, compared.
What to look for in an online grocery storefront, how picking and courier delivery work in practice, and how built-in POS ecommerce compares with standalone partners.
What matters in grocery ecommerce.
Selling groceries online is very different from shipping apparel. Here are the five operational details that make or break store margins.
One catalog vs. two systems to sync
Standalone ecommerce platforms require continuous catalog exports, price sync jobs and tax mapping from your POS. When ecommerce is built into your POS like Basket, every item, store price level, TPR and tax rule is already live online.
White-label storefront on your own domain
Marketplace apps put your products next to competitors and own the customer relationship. Look for a white-labeled storefront hosted on your domain where shoppers sign in to their own account and build loyalty with your store.
Picking, substitutions and weighed items
Grocery orders include out-of-stock substitutions and variable-weight produce or meat. Your staff picking app and card pre-authorization workflow should capture the final fulfilled total at pickup without manual recalculation.
Flexible fulfillment and courier dispatch
Stores need per-location pickup and delivery hours, scheduled slots up to 30 days out, custom delivery zones, and on-demand courier dispatch via DoorDash or Uber without maintaining an in-house fleet.
Register and kitchen integration
Made-to-order deli or bakery items should route directly to a kitchen display, and cashiers should be able to scan an online order QR code at the lane to collect any balance due.
Built-in POS ecommerce vs. bolted-on platforms.
How running your online store on the same platform as your registers simplifies daily operations.
Catalog & pricing
Basket Ecommerce
Runs directly on your Basket POS catalog, store price levels, TPRs and taxes.
Third-party add-on
Requires CSV exports or API sync bridges between your POS and web store.
Brand & domain
Basket Ecommerce
Full white-label storefront on your domain with block-based page builder.
Third-party add-on
Varies from white-label sites to shared marketplaces that keep shopper data.
Order picking
Basket Ecommerce
Included picking app with substitutions, out-of-stock handling and kitchen display.
Third-party add-on
Separate partner tablet or third-party shopper app disconnected from your lanes.
Payments
Basket Ecommerce
Card hold-then-capture at pickup, charge at order, pay at pickup, gift cards and house accounts.
Third-party add-on
Often restricted to online card capture with rigid adjustment limits.
Delivery couriers
Basket Ecommerce
Built-in DoorDash and Uber dispatch with automatic quotes and status tracking.
Third-party add-on
Marketplace couriers with high commission markups or manual driver management.
Reporting
Basket Ecommerce
Paid online orders appear alongside register transactions in your store reports.
Third-party add-on
Separate ecommerce dashboard that must be reconciled manually at end of day.
Grocery ecommerce solutions overview.
How the most common grocery ecommerce platforms, marketplaces and general store builders compare.
Basket Ecommerce
Built into Basket POS · White-labelBuilt directly on your Basket catalog and registers. Launch a branded store on your own domain, set per-store pickup and delivery hours, dispatch DoorDash or Uber couriers, pick orders with substitution handling, route prepared food to a kitchen display, and see online sales in the same reports as your lanes.
See how Basket Ecommerce worksFreshop
Grocery ecommerce platform · NCR VoyixServes over 1,700 grocery and specialty stores with white-label web and mobile ordering, digital circulars and fulfillment tools. Requires integration with your underlying POS and catalog system.
Local Express
Grocery ecommerce & fulfillment partnerOffers white-label online ordering, mobile apps, picking tools and same-day delivery dispatch for independent grocers and specialty markets (such as Seafood City), with integrations to several POS systems.
Mercato
Marketplace & independent grocer storefrontProvides online grocery storefronts and marketplace visibility for independent grocers and specialty food stores (such as Broadway Marketplace), with delivery fulfillment and POS catalog sync.
ShopHero
White-label grocery ecommerceBuilt for independent supermarkets (such as Goodwin’s Market) with flat-rate per-store pricing, web and mobile storefronts, employee picking apps and EBT support.
MyCloudGrocer
Customizable supermarket ecommerceWhite-label virtual storefront and fulfillment platform tailored to kosher, specialty and independent supermarkets (such as Western Kosher), with custom onboarding and POS integration.
Instacart & Shipt
Third-party delivery marketplaces & white-label optionsProvide broad consumer reach and same-day shopper networks (used by chains such as Natural Grocers), alongside white-label storefront options—though marketplace orders often carry per-order fees, price markups or shared customer ownership.
Mercatus
Enterprise grocery commerceDesigned for regional and enterprise supermarket chains looking for configurable digital engagement, third-party delivery orchestration and enterprise POS integration.
General platforms (Shopify, Growcer, Yo!Kart)
General retail & multi-vendor cartsGeneral-purpose ecommerce builders and marketplace scripts offer flexible themes, but typically lack native grocery workflows such as scanner-scale weight adjustments, hold-and-capture picking substitutions, and live grocery POS price rules.
Common questions
Why use built-in ecommerce instead of a third-party grocery ecommerce plugin?
Third-party platforms require syncing item files, prices, promotions and inventory between two systems. With Basket, your online storefront reads directly from your POS catalog, price levels and taxes, and paid orders flow straight into your store reporting.
How does Basket handle substitutions and out-of-stock items when picking?
Pickers can swipe any item in the Basket picking app to substitute it or mark it out of stock. When you preauthorize cards at checkout and capture at pickup, the shopper is charged only for the fulfilled items.
Do we need our own delivery drivers?
No. Basket integrates with DoorDash and Uber couriers—automatically quoting the delivery fee for the shopper’s address, booking the courier, and tracking delivery status.
Can shoppers use our own domain name and store branding?
Yes. You assemble pages from blocks, apply your logo, colors and fonts, and connect your own custom domain with an SSL certificate managed for you.
See your catalog in a Basket online store.
Tell us about your stores and we will reply by email to set up a walkthrough.
Already a customer? Contact support.