Anyone who’s been to a grocery store lately can attest to one obvious thing: Self-scanning now rules the checkout.
Grocers will tell you that self-checkout has improved the customer experience, but a good number of shoppers will tell you that they’re frustrated by the functionality of the kiosks, cleanliness, and other factors.
All of that has led to a crossroads – grocers who want efficiency and customers who want a positive shopping experience. The answer? A who’s who of grocers are putting many of their eggs in the delivery basket, thinking that’s a good solution for both ills.
The movement started a couple of months ago when Albertsons rolled out a new – and aggressive – e-commerce platform that enables 30-minute delivery of more than 30 items from its 2,000-store network. Walmart and Whole Foods didn’t want to be left out of this picture, so Walmart expanded its delivery hours until later in the evening, and Whole Foods Market made hundreds of “365” private label products for nationwide delivery via Amazon.
Kroger recently added a couple of big time moves in its delivery service. Cub, Stater Bros. Market, Eataly, El Super, and The Fresh Market have signed new deals with DoorDash, and Hy-Vee has joined forces with Uber, as have Save Mart, Lucky and FoodMaxx stores.
Two to keep an eye on
The two to watch here are Kroger and DoorDash. Kroger is rolling out a new fleet of refrigerated trucks to keep frozen and dairy items cold, and is giving delivery customers the option of scheduling a 1-hour time slot to get all of their groceries next day or later in the week with no hidden fees or markups. The company is charging $6.95 for deliveries but you save $20 on your first order. The better deal may be signing up for the chain’s Boost program for $59/yr. (sort of like Kroger’s version of Amazon Prime), because you get free delivery, double fuel points, extra coupons, and $100 in savings on their specialty brands.
On the other hand, DoorDash has lots of boots on the ground trying to help grocers identify items that are frequently out of stock, and determine why that’s happening. As a way to speed up fulfillment and avoid inconveniencing shoppers, DoorDash is encouraging retailers to eliminate checkout lines for all those pickers who we encounter in the aisles pushing their carts around.
“We see that grocers and retailers are being more and more innovative in terms of how does the store double as both a traditional physical store that a consumer goes and shops but also as an e-commerce fulfillment hub, and we’re partnering with them along the way to figure out how do we make the shopping more efficient,” Fuad Hannon, the company’s vice president of new business verticals, in an interview during the recent Groceryshop get-together.
“What we’re really focused on a day-to-day basis is working with our partners, our grocery merchants, our Dashers, our CPG partners, and figuring out how do we remove all of the defects in the system, such that consumers can feel really confident in buying online.”
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2023-10-31 17:57:38