Ever since Amazon struck a deal with Whole Foods Market, retail stocks have been faltering. But Cincinnati-based Kroger simply refuses to give up so easily. In an attempt to fend off Amazon’s rising dominance in the grocery business, the supermarket giant is working on rapidly expanding its customer delivery coverage areas this year via Instacart. The company plans to increase its home delivery services to 500 new locations this year.
Currently, Kroger offers delivery services in over 870 stores across the country and has 1,091 curbside pickup locations. The grocery giant’s home delivery services are currently available in 45 markets. Apart from this, services will soon commence in Greater Cincinnati, as Instacart plans to launch in the area on March 15 due to high demand.
As competition heats up, Instacart is increasingly aligning itself to the center. Though a five-year-old startup, the technology company has signed up with not just Kroger but also Albertsons, Ahold, Publix, and Costco.
In an attempt to fend off Amazon’s rising dominance in the grocery business, the supermarket giant is working on rapidly expanding its customer delivery coverage areas this year via Instacart.
Kroger is taking several measures to regain customers who were lost to competitors. The company has been investing heavily in growing its organic market as this has been one of the strongest areas of growth in the grocery business.
In the recent fourth quarter, the company reported having $16.7 billion in annual natural and organic sales. Total sales in 2017 rose 6.4% to $122.7 billion.
With the restock-Kroger program, the company will probably be able to keep up this momentum in the years to come. This new program expects to generate around $400 million in incremental operating margin from 2018 to 2020.