Ep 43: Sparkling Sips, Lydia Thacher - Access & Convenience, Delivered

0:08SPEAKER_02:Welcome to another SheCommerce Sparkling Sips, our shorter, sharper take on the people and ideas shaping the future of commerce. I'm Christina.

0:17SPEAKER_01:And I'm Jackie. And today we're talking about something that sounds simple on the surface. Delivery, but is actually a much bigger story about access, convenience, digital transformation, and what OmniChann actually looks like when you build it, shockingly, around the customer.

0:39SPEAKER_02:Imagine that. Oh my gosh. But for Dollar General, my DG delivery isn't simply about getting products from store to someone's doorstep. It's about taking the power of an enormous neighborhood store footprint and extending it digitally, which gives consumers more ways to shop, making everyday essentials easier to access and creating new opportunities to build deeper relationships with shoppers. And helping lead all of that in this evolution is today's guest.

1:15SPEAKER_01:Lydia. We are thrilled to. You stole my line, Lydia. But we are thrilled to have a thrilled to have you here, Lydia, Vice President of Digital Commerce at Dollar General. So, ladies and gentlemen, Lydia leads Dollar General's digital commerce strategy with a focus on using technology to improve the customer experience, deepen loyalty, drive digital growth, support retail media, and create greater operational efficiency. That's a lot on your plate.

1:53SPEAKER_01:Definitely keeps you uh out of mischief. Huh?

1:56SPEAKER_00:Keeps you busy. Very.

1:59SPEAKER_01:Lydia joined uh Lydia joined Dollar General in 2020 and has held several digital and merchandising leadership roles across the business, including helping lead the company's e-commerce growth and delivery partnerships. And she's quite literally helping to shape what the next chapter of Dollar General looks like from store to screen to doorstep. Lydia, welcome. Welcome to G-Commerce. Welcome.

2:30SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here and talk with you guys today.

2:34SPEAKER_02:Well, we're honored to have you. Um, we're gonna jump right in and start with what I think you'll agree with is probably at the heart of everything you do, the customer. So can you maybe share with us a bit more about what the customer need was that Dollar General was looking to solve with MyDG delivery? And how does the service build on Dollar General's longstanding mission of serving others?

3:02SPEAKER_00:Well, you said it. Uh at Dollar General, our reality really does start with our customers and their everyday life. So we're thinking about how our customers are balancing work and family and budgets and time, right? So, how can we make their life a little bit easier? And that's exactly what MyDG delivery does. It gives them the choice, right? It gives them a convenient way to shop everyday essentials uh from wherever they are. Um, obviously, we still love if they stop on their way home from work into a Dollar General, but we want to be able to give them the option to have those goods waiting for them when they get home if they aren't able to make that additional trip.

3:43SPEAKER_00:And we really think about the value that MyDG Delivery brings. Um, you can get those items delivered in under an hour with a$1 ASAP fee. You can use all your Dollar General digital coupons to keep saving even more on those orders. Um, and with MyDG, you can get your first order uh delivered for free. So we really want to give customers the opportunity to try it. It is a natural extension of our mission of serving others because the mission has always been about helping customers save time and save money every single day.

4:19SPEAKER_00:Uh, and this gives them the flexibility to do that in a way that I think nowadays customers are very accustomed to. I know I use delivery um probably too often uh because I'm I'm a working mom and sometimes you know I need that convenience of getting those items delivered to we we get it, we get it. Um so we were really excited to be able to offer that to our customers, um, and uh and we're really excited about what we're seeing with the success of the Mike Ch library.

4:58SPEAKER_01:So tell me how did tools like digital coupons and delivery promotions fit into this this value equation, Lydia?

5:10SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so it's really the whole MyDG ecosystem. So as a My DG customer, that's the way you get access to our Dollar General digital coupons. And we have a new weekly ad uh that comes out every weekend that really highlights those coupons and those in-store instant offers uh that are available if you're a MyDG customer. So MyDG delivery, you can use all of those coupons. And there's personalized birthday offers and special offers that are available to those consumers.

5:39SPEAKER_00:Something that you can't get even in our other partnerships, um, you know, with like DoorDash or an Uber. So it's unique to MyDG delivery that you can get that extra savings uh with our coupons that are available both in-store and through delivery.

5:53SPEAKER_02:So it is an elevated experience versus simply ordering Dollar General through a third-party delivery platform. That's the value out of going direct.

6:02SPEAKER_00:Yes, and that really um uh additional value of getting those items delivered in under an hour for just a$1 ASAP fee, which we find is very competitive.

6:12SPEAKER_02:Very, yeah. I gotta try it.

6:16SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I I I wish we had that, honestly. Like there's nothing, nothing here for less than like$175 billion uh pounds. I'm a grown country. I'm in the youth. So yeah. Um I love that it's basically, yeah, right? It's it's you're you're taking the mission that already exists, and you're asking, how do we serve the same customer differently as their lives and expectations change? And that kind of really, really leans into your ethos of your customer is always at the heart of everything that you do.

6:53SPEAKER_00:Yes. Yes, yeah, 100%. We're always thinking about how we can better serve our customer. Um, and again, it is it it goes so perfectly together, um, not only with serving our customer, but also with our store footprint. With over 21,000 stores across the US, we're using uh Mighty D delivery as an extension of our physical footprint to create digital convenience. So, you know, we're well known at the communities that we serve, some of those being communities of like a thousand people or less, where there aren't a lot of retail opportunities for them or access for those customers.

7:31SPEAKER_00:And so MyDG delivery just gives them additional ways to get our everyday items delivered to their to their door. Um, and you know, it actually can help people understand a little bit more about the assortment that we carry, shopping our digital shelves. They can maybe easily see that we've got, you know, over 2,000 uh$1 items every day. They can call a seasonal assortment so they can pick up like last-minute Halloween decor. I can't believe we're getting into the Halloween season.

8:00SPEAKER_00:Um, or you know, plan for a party. Um, so just different uh categories that they can explore if they're shopping offline.

8:09SPEAKER_01:I mean, your your um physical footprint is extraordinary, right? I mean, absolutely incredible. And that creates a really interesting advantage um when you start, you know, connecting stores uh from a digital perspective. But how do you turn My DG um for in your local Dollar General neighborhood into like that omnichannel advantage? You know, you you talked a little bit, can you expand a little bit about how for the rural communities especially, you know, the busy families and the customers facing transportation and time barriers and so on.

8:47SPEAKER_01:Um you talked a little bit about it. Can you expand on on how you've you've pivoted that to to kind of a full omni um solution?

8:59SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, we've really used our physical footprint. Um, so we are within about five miles of 75% of the US. So using our stores as mini fulfillment centers was really the right way for to tackle omni-channel. Um, that's our bread and butter. We've been doing that really well with new stores every year. And so using those stores as the way that we can get customers, like I said, everyone's accustomed to getting items extremely fast. Um, using those stores as the way to get items to customers who, as you said, transportation issues, um time man time issues, right?

9:36SPEAKER_00:Being able to really uh get them the items they need when they need it was our way of going, okay, we can do this through our 21,000 store footprint in communities that can't get other retailers to deliver to them the same day. Um, so it really is an advantage, um, and we'll continue to use uh and test, right? That's the beauty of 21,000 stores is you can test things in a in a subset of stores to really see what's working. Um so that's what we've done, and that's how we launched and scaled my G my DG delivery.

10:08SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think this is one of those moments where I think we need to retire that idea that omni channel means online versus store. Like to your point, the store is very much part of the whole digital advantage here for Dollar General.

10:23SPEAKER_00:I don't think customers like think about it in channels either. As a in retail, we do, but as a customer, I just think about how can I get what I need when I need store in the moment that I need it. So I think we as consumers think on a Saturday. Definitely.

10:41SPEAKER_01:Exactly. On a Saturday, you don't you're not sitting there thinking, which channel shall I shop from? Right?

10:47unknown:No.

10:48SPEAKER_00:No, we've heard from our customers um just really great feedback, you know, the busy mom and um I've been in that situation and going, I forgot that I have to do snacks for 12 kids at a soccer game on a Saturday and it's Friday afternoon, and I don't have time to go to the store, and I can get those items delivered from DG, make those goodie bags, and be ready for the weekend. So hearing those stories where we like save somebody in a pinch.

11:13SPEAKER_02:Oh my god. I'm adding this to my like emergency resource list, like absolutely. Yes.

11:20SPEAKER_01:But Lydia, um, slightly sorry, uh Christina, I was just gonna ask Lydia. Um, there's a uh I have a slightly left field question to ask, and that's from your, I guess from your data points, uh from your observation and insights, are there any customer groups or communities where you've seen delivery make a particularly meaningful impact or difference?

11:51SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, I would say like again, our rural communities, right? Where there's just less access to more retailers there and us being, you know, not only their like general neighborhood store, but now where their opportunity to get items delivered to them um in, like I said, as little as an hour. So I still, you know, we really do focus on on our rural communities that we serve who who you know rely on us for everyday essentials from you know, household cleaning goods to laundry to you know food and food and beverages.

12:24SPEAKER_00:So all of those items can be delivered to them. Um, they can plan it so they don't have to get them you know within an hour. They can also schedule it for later in the in the day when it might be more convenient for them. Um, you know, so we're always looking to uh, you know, find new customers um for our marketing and our digital experiences, um, but also really very focused on serving our existing our existing customers in our rural communities.

12:51SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and and I wanted to actually go there next in terms of moving from that access to more growth. I think the interesting part of the story is that that delivery doesn't just create another way for your current shoppers to buy and engage with Dollar General, but it potentially creates an entirely new relationship with that customer. So uh I imagine you're attracting new shoppers, you know, deepening loyalty with existing and then creating more connected engagement across this entire My DG ecosystem.

13:25SPEAKER_02:Um, can you talk a little bit more about that and maybe what the role personalization um plays in the ecosystem?

13:34SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh definitely uh all works very well together. So uh I I love actually how we're structured here at Dollar General. So uh I sit under our marketing umbrella, and that is marketing, digital, retail media, customer insights, and signage. And so I work really closely with our marketing teams. Um, and delivery is really a new entry point to customers who maybe don't think about Dollar General or don't know that much about Dollar General. Um we're using targeted personalized marketing across CTV and Meta and YouTube to really meet customers right in the moment that they would be most likely to convert.

14:13SPEAKER_00:Um, and we have that option now, right? To have them convert and get an order delivered directly to them. Um, and so delivery can show not only highlight, you know, that Dollar General is uh thinking Omni channel, but that it's convenient and then very value focused. So the messaging um goes really well hand in hand that not only can you save at Dollar General, um, but you can get your items delivered. So, you know, we're turning those digital shoppers into then customers who go and go shop in our stores as well.

14:43SPEAKER_00:And then on the on the retail media network side, it really gives our media network team, our our Dollar General Media Network team. I know you've spoken to members of them before. Yes, yes, the opportunity to partner with our CPG. Um, and that is a way for them, again, to do on-site and off-site uh media that really talks about and showcases delivery as a convenience and value uh proposition for Dollar General and not only helps our customers but helps our grand partners as well.

15:15SPEAKER_00:Um, so really bringing bringing all of them together, we're able to create consistent marketing on our on our digital properties, in our marketing, both paid and owned, and across our retail media network that showcases the value that Dollar General has, whether you're in store or online, and then the convenience that we can offer uh with delivery. So it's been a it's been great working across all of our org to really showcase what My DG delivery can bring to our customer.

15:43SPEAKER_00:And our digitally engaged, like existing customers, uh just spend more time with us, right? So they're on their phone clipping coupons, they're checking the weekly ad, um, they're looking at their store and and you know, before delivery, kind of doing like a pre-shop, right? So they're add items to their cart and see, okay, with all these coupons applied, what is my cart gonna look like? So they're already spending a lot of time with us on our digital properties, um, and then add-in delivery, you know, as an incremental trip.

16:13SPEAKER_00:Um so it's really something that uh has deepened engagement and all of the MyDG ecosystem really does that um with our existing customers and then unlocked a way for us to reach new customers.

16:26SPEAKER_02:We love a connected org, and it's really clear to see that like triple win thinking coming to life and the value add of not just Dollar General, but the brand side, like you mentioned, and as well as the customer that you're serving.

16:42SPEAKER_00:It's been it's been great. It's been that way for a couple of years now, and I think we really feel like we see this like integrated approach, uh, like you said, that works for the customer. Yeah. So the customer, uh, you know, get the message, um, but also the brands um and our teams work.

17:01SPEAKER_01:Now, Lydia, we talked about um the how in terms of um what you've done to put all of this together, um, working with uh you know the teams at Dollar General. But we're gonna move a little bit to the she of she commerce. You are helping lead a significant digital transformation inside one of the country's largest retailers. As a woman helping shape Dollar General's digital commerce evolution, uh what leadership lesson has mattered most in your career and what advice would you give women who want to build or want to help build uh the future of retail?

17:47SPEAKER_00:I love that. I um it it doesn't feel that you don't sit back and like think about it that way every day. So it's nice to uh remember, yeah, that we're building something here that we didn't have, you know, a couple years ago. Um I would say for me, some of the biggest leadership lessons um would be just stay curious and ask a lot of questions and be willing to embrace change because retail evolves so quickly. Um e-commerce evolves so quickly. Um and so I feel like I've just always been adaptable, um, raised my hand, asked a lot of questions, stayed really curious.

18:27SPEAKER_00:Um, not only like internally, how do I learn from others who have been working in retail for longer than I have, are working in different parts of the organization, um, but also just outside of the organization, you know, listening to podcasts or attending conference, um, just trying to stay up to date on how everything is evolving. Um, but I've had really incredible female leaders here at Dollar General who have really uh sponsored me. Um, so that's also just been something that um I would be remiss not to mention.

19:01SPEAKER_00:They've given me a lot of opportunity in different advanced leadership programs and mentorship programs. Um, so just also accept saying yes to those, right? So yes to challenges, saying yes to things that maybe you're you don't you don't feel 100% prepared for, um but raising your hand um and uh yeah, embracing change.

19:24SPEAKER_02:Oh, we love that. We uh love women supporting other women and you feeling supportive in your career journey um and staying curious. We always talk about that. Like don't wait till you're 100% ready because then you're already ready for the next thing. So have the courage to ask those questions and raise your hand. Um, well, Lydia, well, I think what I'm taking away from this entire conversation is that sometimes the biggest innovations aren't about creating something that's completely new.

19:53SPEAKER_02:They're about looking at, you know, your strengths and the incredible assets you already have, in Dollar General's case, the neighborhood presence and your footprint, and asking how technology can make it work harder and better for the customer.

20:07SPEAKER_00:100%. We answered the customer's need and could do that with with our footprint and a and a little bit of technology involved. So, but we're definitely always thinking about it from how can we bring that value and convenience to our customer.

20:23SPEAKER_01:Exactly, because this is so much bigger than delivery. It's about access, it's about choice, it's about making the physical and digital experience work together instead of competing with one another. And ultimately, ultimately, it's about using innovation to make everyday life a little easier for the people you serve. And Dollar General does that so well in terms of serving your people.

20:54SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And I mean, anyone who's making life easier for us, we we love that. Um, but Lydia, thank you for not only giving us that look into the evolution of MyDG delivery, but also sharing some of your leadership perspective behind it. We're so glad to have you as a part of the SheCommer Sisterhood and to have been your first official podcast.

21:15SPEAKER_00:Yes, thank you guys so much. This was so much fun and and a lot less nerve-wracking than I appreciate the time.

21:26SPEAKER_01:Lydia, you were a natural. And um, to everyone listening, this is your sparkling sip for today. Short conversation, but big ideas. Huge. Until next time, this is Christina and Jackie with our fabulous guest Lydia Thatcher. Both brands, fierce women for one sisterhood.