At the Groceryshop 2022 event in Las Vegas, Kroger Co. chief information officer and senior vp, Yael Cosset, shared what the company characterizes as its seamless strategy and how evolving shopping trends are generating change, it revealed.
And he pointed out that the food-at-home trend persists, bolstered by the desire to share cooking skills learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. An inflationary environment that makes cooking at home a cost saver is solidifying the trend as the pandemic becomes a lesser concern.
Cosset noted that behavioral shifts that began during the pandemic have become part of how customers shop every day as they navigate comfortably through delivery, pickup and in-store trips depending on the needs of the moment.
Kroger is working to make the transition from option to option as seamless as possible, he indicated, emphasizing the convenience of choice, relevance and the company’s promise to provide the freshest products at value no matter the shopping occasion. Kroger is optimizing an easy-to-shop ecosystem built on stores and dedicated fulfillment facilities that provide value without asking customers to compromise on the experience or shareholders on the economic model.
Cosset maintains that Kroger’s seamless digital ecosystem is critical to customer satisfaction. It combines the proximity of stores for immediate delivery in as little as 30 minutes and the reliability and efficiency of its dedicated facilities. He added that customer reaction to Boost by Kroger, the latest addition to Kroger’s loyalty platform has been received positively. The paid Boost loyalty program can save customers more than $1,000 per year on fuel and grocery delivery, he asserted, supported by the expansion of the Kroger Delivery Network, founded on Ocado technology in robotic fulfillment and contributed to growing digital sales in the second quarter.
“We know our customers have different needs based on their daily lives and the question becomes: What, when and how? Our seamless ecosystem brings all of these factors together without asking the customer to compromise on quality, value or convenience. Whether our customers shop for a last-minute dinner, their weekly shop or freshest ingredients at the right price, we provide relevant and personalized experience,” Cosset asserted.
