Cinch, the Englewood-based grocery delivery service, is joining the team at National Retail Solutions (NRS). A division of IDT, NRS was founded in 2015 and offers a network of point-of-sale services to help smaller- to medium-sized businesses, including convenience stores, family restaurants, florists, liquor stores and bodegas, upgrade their outdated cash registers to the technology necessary to compete with larger retailers. “NRS is essentially bringing these businesses into the 21st century, and Cinch is excited to be a part of the process,” said Ari Korman, Cinch founder and CEO.
Korman and his brother Josh started Cinch with the vision to create a convenient online shopping experience that offers a great selection of bulk-sized groceries from warehouse-club stores at reasonable prices with no membership fees, no minimum quantities and free delivery. What distinguishes Cinch from other grocery delivery platforms is the unparalleled level of customer service each client receives. “At the core of our business is a happy customer,” said Korman, who added that Cinch is modeled after the milkman concept of the past.
Ordering from Cinch is simple. Customers can shop through the website, the app or by using What’sApp, and in most cases their order will be delivered the next day. Drivers happily deliver your items to a specific place in your home or even divide the order between different areas as per your request. They get to know their customers well; what type of items they typically need and where they like to store things, explained Korman, which ultimately creates a more personalized experience for each client.
Now in its sixth year of operation, Cinch has an impressive client base and continues to grow their platform in ways they hope will benefit both consumers and merchants. Partnering with NRS allows Cinch to use their existing delivery platform to provide wholesale product distribution to NRS convenience stores. Additionally, both Cinch and NRS have a significant knowledge base which together can offer convenience stores a greater selection of products with better pricing.
Having mastered the technology of digital age shopping, Cinch can provide tremendous assistance to NRS convenience stores, which until now had little to no chance of competing with giants like Instacart, Go Puff and other competitors that are slowly boxing out the traditional mom-and-pop shops. According to Korman, today’s average consumer thinks digitally, and if smaller convenience stores don’t adapt to technology, they will eventually be forced out of the market by larger and more tech-savvy players.
Together, Cinch and NRS can change the way smaller businesses compete. The point-of-sale system from NRS is more than just an upgrade to how merchants complete a sale. The system offers payment processing, inventory management, an advertising platform and customer relationship management, all at the touch of a screen.
Korman hopes through this venture, Cinch can tap into the vast resources and relationships NRS has and will subsequently grow their consumer-facing grocery delivery platform including consumer packaged goods and brand relationships.
By Andrea Nissel
