DISCUSSION
Will the Kroger/Instacart deal redefine grocery shopping convenience in America?
Written by George Anderson
Photo: Kroger
Kroger and Instacart are working together to launch “Kroger Delivery Now” a new virtual nationwide convenience delivery service that will deliver fresh food, household essentials, meal solutions and snacks from morning to late at night in as little as 30 minutes.
Fulfillment of orders will be handled by Kroger’s grocery operations around the country. Customers of the service will have their choice of products from an inventory of 25,000 items. The grocery giant says its selection, pricing and speed of delivery through Instacart means that consumers will not have to make trade-offs associated with existing convenience delivery models.
The new service will require a $10 minimum order and include a $2.99 delivery fee. Instacart annual members will not have to pay for delivery. Orders can be placed through Kroger or Instacart’s apps or websites.
"Kroger Delivery Now is a differentiated solution in the e-commerce industry, not just the grocery sector," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "Our new service provides customers with one more way to shop with us and addresses the importance of convenience and immediacy. Operationally, this service reaches up to 50 million households and it's an expansion of our thriving e-commerce model that demonstrates strategic interplay among our assets, expansive store network, supply chain and dedicated fulfillment centers and fleet, joined by Instacart's unrivaled fulfillment model and last-mile technology to provide our customers with anything, anytime, anywhere without compromise.”
The launch of the new service is part of Kroger’s plan to double its digital sales and profits by the end of 2023. The company saw its online business grow to more than $10 billion last year.
Kroger will be enlisting its more than 2,700 stores operating under its namesake banner and its various chain stores, including King Soopers, Ralphs, Smith’s and others, will all be participating in the effort.
Mr. McMullen called Instacart a strategic partner whose “industry-leading scale and ingenuity complements Kroger's best-in-class assets, digital strategy and expanding seamless ecosystem.”
The launch of Kroger Delivery Now, he said, “reinforces our commitment to leading with fresh and accelerating with digital in an environment of increased and sustained customer expectations for fresh food on demand.”
He called the service “a gamechanger” and said Kroger was focused on leveraging its assets to deliver a seamless experience “in the most scalable, sustainable, and profitable way."