Veteran Grocers Bet on Curbside Pickup

Walmart and Kroger turn to a new pickup model to combat Amazon’s home delivery.

December 20, 2017

LOS ANGELES – As Amazon continues to try to siphon off more of the U.S. grocery market via its home delivery model, Kroger and Walmart are turning to online ordering with curbside pickup as viable alternatives for customers, Reuters reports.

Both companies have shored up their online ordering systems that let shoppers place an order, then head to their neighborhood store to pick it up at the curb. The service, which is less expensive than delivery, gives shoppers a way to nix the crowds and lines at their local supermarket.

With Amazon continually tweaking its AmazonFresh model—and its purchase of Whole Foods earlier this year—grocers are upping their own game to stay competitive in the $12.6 billion online grocery market in the United States. “The way people are going to shop for groceries is going to be curbside, not delivery,” said Jason Goldberg, a senior vice president at SapientRazorfish.

Kroger has been offering pickup since its 2014 purchase of Harris Teeter, which already had curbside pickup. Also in 2014, Kroger launched ClickList, its online ordering and pickup program, which is now available at a thousand of the chain’s 2,800 locations. Between 400 and 500 locations are being brought online to ClickList each year. Matt Thompson, vice president of ClickList, noted that users shell out 40% to 60% more than in-store shoppers because they order bulkier items, such as bottled water.

Walmart has plans to expand its free curbside pickup to a thousand locations in 2018, which would mean 2,100 of its 4,700 U.S. stores would have the service. Walmart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman said positive results from the service are fueling the accelerated expansion. 

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