Kroger Feels the Need for More Delivery Speed
The Kroger Co. is redefining convenience once again by teaming up with Instacart to offer fresh groceries, household items and other key essentials delivered in 30 minutes nationwide.
The service, Kroger Delivery Now, will be an extension of the grocer's partnership with Instacart that began in 2017 in which Kroger offers two-hour delivery.
Kroger Delivery Now’s offering of 25,000 items combines customer favorites with 30-minute delivery – whether they’re shopping for a meal, snack, last-minute ingredient, over-the-counter medication or diapers.
According to Instacart, convenience continues to be one of its most popular categories, with orders up more than 150% since May. Demand for rapid delivery also continues to grow, with nearly 20% of customers selecting Priority Delivery at checkout today. By using Kroger's existing network of more than 2,700 stores, Kroger Delivery Now creates a first-of-its-kind virtual convenience experience that makes faster delivery possible from the Kroger Family of Stores, benefiting customers across the country who live near a store, including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Fry’s, Mariano’s and Smith's locations.
“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. Last year, Kroger achieved more than $10 billion in e-commerce sales, and we’re committed to doubling both our digital sales and profitability rate by the end of 2023 and expect Kroger Delivery Now will help us reach that target."
With the launch of Kroger Delivery Now, Instacart is also unveiling the Convenience Hub on the Instacart Marketplace, a new product experience that streamlines convenience shopping for customers. Through the new Convenience Hub, customers in nearly every major U.S. city can now shop for convenience essentials 24 hours a day, seven days a week with free Priority Delivery in as fast as 30 minutes for Instacart Express members on orders over $10.
Kroger and Instacart expanded their partnership in 2019 to include alcohol delivery, and today Instacart powers alcohol delivery from nearly 1,500 Kroger Family of Stores across 15 states. The companies expect to continue to partner and invest in new customer experiences to further enhance Kroger’s e-commerce offering.
Earlier this month, Walmart announced that it was partnering with Instacart to deliver groceries in New York City.
Cincinnati-based Kroger is No. 3 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
