Picking It Up With Mavi.io’s In-Car Shopping

Ordering a meal or collecting an errand could begin on a car’s dashboard. In this 2023 Retail Refined interview from Shoptalk, Melissa Gonzalez talks with Cynthia Hollen, CEO and founder of Mavi.io, about the company’s approach to in-car shopping and curbside fulfillment.

Hollen describes an opportunity created by three developments: connected-car screens, retailers’ expanded curbside capabilities and consumers’ interest in completing errands with fewer steps. Her examples focus on immediate needs, such as ordering food while already on the road. The discussion also explains why delivering that experience requires participation from both automakers and retailers.

From curbside habit to the car dashboard

Hollen describes Mavi.io’s basic idea as “shopping to the dashboard of cars,” using the car’s interface to initiate an order while the driver remains in the vehicle. Her illustrative scenario starts with a driver expressing an immediate need—hunger—and the car responding with a familiar, nearby option and a readiness window, followed by a prompt to place the order and have it brought out on arrival.

She positions the timing as a “perfect storm.” On one side, automakers have introduced large interactive screens in connected vehicles and are looking for better commerce experiences. On the other, retailers expanded curbside capability during the pandemic, and Hollen claims some consumers now resist the friction of walking inside and waiting in line—making in-car ordering feel like a continuation of learned behaviors rather than a new habit to teach.

Who feels the pain—and why the use case resonates

When Gonzalez asks how people decide between this interface and other shopping touchpoints, Hollen points to “visceral” reactions among specific groups. She highlights moms as a litmus test for e-commerce efficiency, describing their day as packed with context-switching—calls, school pickup, and errands—where shaving steps off routine purchases can matter more than having yet another app on a phone.

A second group is people who drive for work: rideshare drivers, delivery drivers, and traveling nurses. Hollen describes their challenge as needing food or essentials while being unsure where they are in the moment. The proposed value is the car acting as an always-present assistant for location-dependent errands—less about browsing and more about getting something done quickly while already in transit.

A two-sided platform: automakers, branding, and merchant choice

Hollen is explicit that Mavi.io has to work with both automakers and retailers. She describes automakers wanting an experience that feels native to the vehicle brand—she gives examples of dashboards branded to Jeep or Volkswagen, and notes that the interface should “fit” the broader feel of different makes. That requirement pushes the platform toward deep integration rather than a generic overlay.

On the retail side, Hollen emphasizes offering enough relevant choices for a driver’s request. Her food-ordering example includes presenting several options and accommodating preferences such as a vegan meal. She says merchant coverage matters because a useful first experience gives the driver a reason to use the service again.

Roadmap, partners, and the bigger bet on “15-minute commerce”

Describing progress at the time of the interview, Hollen recalls a South by Southwest demonstration in a Chrysler Pacifica. She says the system was integrated into the vehicle and could handle purchases and payments. That example gives the conversation a concrete reference point before she turns to the passenger-vehicle launch she hoped would follow.

Hollen’s 2023 roadmap included a hoped-for fall launch in passenger vehicles with multiple manufacturers and a second funding round. These were plans discussed in the episode. She framed the opportunity around purchases people need quickly, rather than shopping that can wait several days.

Looking further ahead, Hollen imagines the car helping with dry cleaning, prescriptions, groceries and package pickup. She argues that bringing shoppers back to retailers’ doorsteps could reduce parts of the last-mile fulfillment burden while reconnecting retailers with customers and their data. The ambition extends beyond ordering a meal, but depends on coordinating vehicle interfaces, merchant ordering and the physical handoff.