Kroger Ship Competing With Amazon, Walmart
Kroger is doubling down on its offerings to compete in the online marketplace this fall. The grocer is extending its Kroger Ship program to offer an extended ship-to-home assortment through a marketplace of third-party sellers powered by Mirakl.
Kroger Ship originally launched in August 2018, but with its marketplace expansion will initially feature more than 50,000 additional items across multiple categories, including natural and organic, international food, specialty items, housewares and toys. All these products are through Kroger's third-party partners.
"Our customers are increasingly turning to our e-commerce solutions provided at Kroger.com for their grocery and household essential needs. To better serve our customers, we're continuing to invest in technology that enables us to expand our digital services to deliver anything, anytime, anywhere," said Jody Kalmbach, Kroger's group vice president of product experience. "Leveraging Mirakl's best-in-class marketplace solution, we are broadening Kroger's ship-to-home capabilities by offering more relevant products for our customers through exciting new partnerships with reputable third-party sellers."
In Kroger's first quarter 2020 results, its digital sales grew 92%, and this is another way the grocer is planning to strengthen its e-commerce strategy.
"The expansion of our Kroger Ship platform will continue to bring together our industry-leading customer insights and merchandising data to offer our customers a digital shopping experience that includes staples available in our physical stores as well as products that are exclusive to Kroger.com," said Stuart Aitken, Kroger's senior vice president and chief merchant and marketing officer. "As part of our continuing transformation, we look forward to accelerating the development of our e-commerce platform and providing our customers with even more choices."
Although Kroger's launch of 50,000 additional products is nowhere near the scope of Amazon and Walmart, which are both in the millions, the grocer's partnership with Mirakl might just be the first step in such a plan.
"Kroger has long been a retail giant, and by integrating an online marketplace into its leading eCommerce experience, Kroger is continuing to lead from the front," said Adrien Nussenbaum, CEO and Co-founder of Mirakl. "It's clearer than ever that digital marketplaces are the foundation of the next generation of commerce, and we look forward to supporting Kroger as it takes advantage of this opportunity."
Cincinnati-based Kroger employs nearly half a million associates who serve 9 million-plus customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The company is No. 3 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
