Kroger Completes Rollout of Digital EBT Payments
To help ensure food security throughout the omnichannel, The Kroger Co. is now accepting online EBT payments for pickup and delivery orders across all of its banners. In addition to widening that service, the grocer announced other ways that it is working to bolster access to fresh, healthy foods.
Over the past several months, Kroger has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to enable EBT digital acceptance in a growing number of stores. The effort builds on a pilot test that Kroger participated in during the pandemic.
[Read more: “Ralphs, Food 4 Less Go Digital With SNAP Orders”]
Eligible customers can use their government assistance payments to buy groceries online via the Kroger app or at Kroger.com. Participants just need to add their EBT account number as a new card under the “My Account” and “Wallet” tabs. Both pickup and delivery options are available.
While building their grocery orders, shoppers can find coupons for SNAP-eligible products and other items. On its pages for SNAP users, Kroger also provides information on and links to its value-priced private label offerings.
"We believe everyone should have access to fresh, affordable and nutritious food," said Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen. "I am so proud of our passionate teams who worked closely with the USDA to remove barriers to healthy foods so that more of America can access the food they need to thrive."
As the retailer shores up access to grocery essentials and better-for-you products, Kroger is running a parallel track on customer education. One example is Kroger’s OptUP nutrition rating system on its app and website, which shares nutrition scores for a wide variety of foods and beverages and provides insights on healthy alternatives.
Serving more than 11 million customers daily through a digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, Cincinnati-based Kroger is No. 4 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also included Kroger on its Retailers of the Century list.
