In a move signaling its continued expansion into the online grocery realm, H-E-B announced Monday the addition of a chief digital officer to its leadership roster and named Favor Delivery CEO Jag Bath to the position.
Favor is the on-demand delivery service H-E-B acquired in February. Bath will continue in his role as its CEO, oversee all of H-E-B’s digital products and services, and report to H-E-B Chief Operating Officer Martin Otto.
“Jag is a leading national figure in the digital space and this appointment reflects the central importance of building out H-E-B’s omni-channel service to meet customers’ evolving needs and expectations,” Otto stated. “Our primary goal is to enable our customers to shop, pay for, and receive their products in whatever way they choose – all while delivering an exceptional customer experience.”
Founded in Austin five years ago, Favor delivers orders from restaurants and grocery stores directly to users in 50 cities across Texas. With the acquisition of Favor earlier this year, H-E-B gained access to the company’s technology, advanced delivery system, and data-driven approach to capturing customer insights.
H-E-B began testing H-E-B To You Delivery service in the San Antonio market late last year, at the time launching partnerships with Shipt and Instacart to offer grocery delivery to its customers.
The retailer also introduced an online “Ship to Home” service that ships grocery, drugstore, and general merchandise products to 48 states and military bases worldwide. Another digitally driven pickup service, H-E-B Curbside, is currently available in more than 100 stores, with plans to get to 200 by the end of this year.
The grocery giant also is testing a mobile self-checkout app in three stores across the city.
Earlier this month, H-E-B announced a partnership with San Antonio-based health and technology company FetchMD, allowing customers to receive free prescription delivery.
With sales of $25 billion, the privately held grocery company operates 400 stores in Texas and Mexico, and employs 109,000 people within 300 communities. H-E-B, which is headquartered in San Antonio, is marking its 113th anniversary this year.
Bath joined Favor as CEO and president in 2015. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president of product at RetailMeNot, a digital savings app.
“I’m excited to take on this new role as we accelerate H-E-B’s efforts to become the digital industry leader in Texas,” Bath stated. “The investment we are making is reflective of the importance of building out new digital products and services to complement H-E-B’s world-class brick-and-mortar stores.”
