Shipt CEO talks about adapting to pandemic, increasing diversity

When the pandemic hit, it was “chaos” at Shipt in downtown Birmingham, CEO Kelly Caruso said.

Despite the challenges, Caruso said the business takes pride in being able to provide those in the Birmingham area a way to have groceries delivered safely, and to provide some income to Shipt shoppers who may have lost income as a result to the pandemic.

“We are a people-centric community,” Caruso said at a virtual luncheon for the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce on March 9.

Shipt occupies one of the tallest buildings in the city of Birmingham and has consistently grown since launching in 2014. Target bought the business in 2017, but Shipt still operates independently from their owner, Caruso said. Caruso joined Shipt after the acquisition, replacing founder Bill Smith. Caruso formerly worked for two decades as the president of Target’s global sourcing business before joining Shipt in 2019 upon Smith’s departure.

Despite moving from the much colder North, Caruso said her family has adjusted well to life in the South, and her children especially love it. One of her sons is going to the University of Alabama next year and said he doesn’t want to leave the South.

When the pandemic hit, Shipt enabled contactless delivery, provided protective equipment for shoppers, provided pay to shoppers who were diagnosed with COVID-19 or unable to work due to mandatory quarantines, provided incentive pay on individual orders and sent multiple rounds of bonuses for the most active shoppers, Caruso said. Shoppers work on average about 10 hours a week, Caruso said. However, in an effort to attract quality talent, only three out of 10 people who apply to be a Shipt shopper are accepted, she said.

Caruso spends her time developing the company’s purpose and values, molding a long-term strategy and developing and nurturing talent, she said.

Since joining the company, she said she’s realized how many great people work at Shipt.

“I’ve got some amazing talent to work with and I’m amazed every day when I come into work,” Caruso said.

The talent at Shift is diverse, Caruso said. Six out of nine executives are women, and half of all leaders, which includes directors and above, are women. Forty percent of the executive team is diverse, and 31% of the product and tech team is female, she said.

Shipt wants to give back to the Birmingham community and to the technology sector in general, Caruso said. The company owns Birmingham Bound, which helps recruit tech companies to the city, and nurtures existing ones. They also partner with Innovation Depot. On the nonprofit side, Shipt supports Feeding America, a hunger relief organization.

The company also has future plans for growth, Caruso said, including growing their footprint and increasing accessibility to Shipt’s services. The company also plans to add more retailers and become a “one stop shop.” Caruso said while the business won’t get into delivering hot food, they may expand to other categories like baby supplies, office supplies and more.

Shipt is also working to enhance their app, as well as growing their company and increasing diversity, Caruso said.

For more information, visit shipt.com.