CINCINNATI as well as SAN FRANCISCO – The Kroger Co. America’s largest supermarket chain, as well as Instacart the most popular online marketplace for groceries for North America, today launched Kroger Delivery Now – a new service powered by a digital convenience store, which is backed with The Kroger Family of Stores and offers customers fresh food and household essentials, quality and the experience they’ve come to want and enjoy from Kroger within 30 minutes.
Kroger Delivery Now redefines convenience as one of the few delivery services across America that doesn’t require consumers to sacrifice choice, quality prices, speed, or selection. Kroger Delivery Now’s vast selection of 25,000 products combines customers’ favorites with speedy and convenient delivery to their doorstep – whether searching for food or snack, a last-minute item such as over-the-counter medications or diapers.
Kroger Delivery Now is available to customers at times that matter and gives them access to an unparalleled variety and value beginning in the early morning to late in the night.
“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 gives customers with a new opportunity to shop at us and emphasizes the importance of speed and convenience. The service is operational and reaches upwards of 50 million households . It’s an extension of our successful online shopping model that shows the strategic interplay between our stores, assets, distribution network and supply chain and dedicated fulfillment centers and fleets that are complemented by our unrivaled fulfillment model and last mile technology to give our customers anythingat any time, from anywhere , and 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,” added McMullen.
Convenience is one of the top categories on Instacart With orders increasing by more than 150% in May 2021. The demand for speedy delivery is growing and more than 20 percent of shoppers opting for Priority Delivery at checkout today.
Utilizing Kroger’s existing network of over 2,700 establishments, Kroger Delivery Now creates an unprecedented virtual experience that speeds up delivery possible via Kroger’s Kroger Family of Stores, which will benefit customers all over the country who live near a location that includes Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Fry’s, Mariano’s, and Smith’s stores.
With the announcement of Kroger Delivery Now, Instacart is also launching the Convenience Hub on Instacart Marketplace it is a brand-new product that simplifies buying for consumers. Through the Convenience Hub customers from almost every important U.S. city can now shop for necessities for their convenience all day all week long, with the option of free Priority Delivery within as little up to 30 minutes, in the case of Instacart Express members for orders that exceed $10.
“We’re delighted to continue our long-standing alliance with Kroger. Together, we together we unveil Kroger Delivery Now – an completely new and innovative way for customers to enjoy convenience delivery throughout the nation. Kroger Delivery Now, available exclusively through Kroger.com as well as in the Instacart Marketplace, is a reimagining of the modern convenience store using the entire chain of the renowned Kroger Family of Stores brands offering delivery in 30 minutes available to consumers for the first time across the nation,” said Fidji Simo, Instacart CEO.
“Instacart has become a powerful retail enablement platform and today’s expansion of our Kroger partnership is another example of our commitment to develop new solutions that help retailers grow and meet the evolving needs of their businesses and customers.”
“Instacart is one of our strategic partners and their industry-leading scale and ingenuity complements Kroger’s best-in-class assets, digital strategy, and expanding seamless ecosystem, helping enable us to continue growing our business,” continued McMullen.
“Kroger Delivery Now is a testament to our determination to be the leader in fresh, and growing with digital in a world of increasing and constant customer demands for food that is fresh and available on demand. This is truly revolutionary and we’re excited to keep in the forefront by expanding our network and making use of our assets to provide seamless service using our entire collection of assets, which includes creative and innovative solutions for last-mile delivery–today’s real competitive power–in the most efficient, sustainable and profitable manner to improve our business and provide an enjoyable and consistent customers’ experience no matter if they need grocery items now or in the future.”
It is believed that the Kroger Family of Stores and Instacart initially partnered in 2017 and now provide two-hour delivery of groceries and also 30-minute delivery across the country. The two companies widened their partnership in the year 2019 to include delivery for alcohol and today Instacart delivers alcohol from over 1500 Kroger Family of Stores across 15 states. The two companies plan to keep working together and create new customer experiences that further enhance Kroger’s online shopping experience.
To learn more about the Kroger Delivery Now service, visit Kroger.com/deliverynow, Instacart.com/kroger-delivery-now, or www.instacart.com/store/hub/convenience.
More About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyoneand dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit(r). We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
More About Instacart
Instacart is the leading online grocery platform in North America. Instacart shoppers offer same-day delivery and pickup services to bring fresh groceries and everyday essentials to busy people and families across the U.S. and Canada. Instacart has partnered with more than 600 beloved national, regional and local retailers, including unique brand names, to deliver from nearly 55,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. Instacart’s platform is available to over 85% of U.S. households and 80% of Canadian households. The company’s cutting-edge enterprise technology also powers the ecommerce platforms of some of the world’s biggest retail players, supporting their white-label websites, applications and delivery solutions. Instacart offers an Instacart Express membership that includes reduced service fees and unlimited free delivery on orders over $35. For more information, visit www.instacart.com. For anyone interested in becoming an Instacart shopper, visit https://shoppers.instacart.com/
SOURCE The Kroger Co.
