This week grocery retail giant Kroger launched Ship, the fourth customer option in the retailer’s Restock Kroger master plan to redefine American food and grocery shopping.
Kroger customers in Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Cincinnati, and Houston can check out and place orders on the Kroger Ship website. Kroger plans to add direct customer delivery service quickly in more markets in the next few months.
“Kroger Ship is our next step in creating a seamless experience that allows our customers to shop when and how they want,” Kroger Chief Digital Officer Yael Cosset said in a statement. “Our new service is just one more way we are redefining the customer experience as part of Restock Kroger, bringing more convenience and options to shoppers across America. Kroger Ship complements and joins our 2,800 grocery stores, 1,250 curbside pickup locations, and delivery service from 1,200 locations.”
In Kroger Ship’s early stages shoppers can choose from “a curated selection of 4,5000 Our Brands products, which are not available anywhere else online, and more than 50,000 center-aisle groceries and household essentials that matter the most, influenced by 84.51 data and insights,” the company stated in a press release.
84.51 is a retail data analytics company which Kroger has partnered with to understand and deliver exactly what its customers want.
In addition to food and grocery staples, Kroger Ship will also deliver different sizes and bulk orders, focusing on the company’s Our Brands products, giving customers a greater selection than available in the brick and mortar stores.
Kroger Ship will offer competitive prices and free delivery on orders over $35. Orders under $35 will ordinarily incur a $5 delivery fee, but during the service’s undefined launch phase, delivery will be free with no minimum order. During the launch, customers will also get a one-time 15 percent discount.
Kroger has set its sights high, pursuing the same grocery customers nationwide as Walmart and Amazon with its Whole Foods acquisition.
“Kroger is building on our expansive logistics and fulfillment infrastructure to support the rapid rollout of Ship,” Frank Bruni, Kroger vice president of supply chain and procurement, said in a statement. “With the support of Our Brands, and Kroger’s manufacturers and suppliers, our vision is to build a seamless ecommerce system that offers our customers an ever-growing number of products and allows Kroger to ship nationwide, serving America through food inspiration and uplift.”
