Here's the latest in food retail
| The latest in food retail | | RETAIL & FINANCIAL | | | Closeup look at The Kroger Co., SN’s Retailer of the Year
Seamless omnichannel network takes shape as supermarket giant ‘leads with fresh, accelerates with digital’. The Kroger Co.’s selection as the 2022 Supermarket News Retailer of the Year was well-earned.
Kroger’s decision to take a deep plunge into e-commerce may end up answering a question on the minds of many in the industry: Is a large-scale online grocery operation viable for brick-and-mortar supermarket chains? Well, Kroger will give us a peek as its automated fulfillment network, powered by Ocado Group, continues to unfold. |
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| RETAIL & FINANCIAL | | | Walmart online shoppers to pay list price for product substitutions
The new policy is expected to go live in the coming weeks, published reports said.
Until now, when online Walmart shoppers were offered a substitute item for an out-of-stock product, the customers were automatically charged for the lower-priced item. But soon, if the recommended substitute costs more, shoppers will have to pay the higher price. The new policy is the standard practice across the retail industry, used by companies such as Whole Foods Market and Instacart, according to Business Insider. |
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| SUSTAINABILITY | | | Wegmans nears full phase-out of single-use plastic shopping bags
All Pennsylvania stores to remove disposable plastic grocery bags this month.
Wegmans Food Markets will soon reach one of its main sustainability goals: the elimination of single-use plastic shopping bags at all of its stores. Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans said it aims to remove disposable plastic grocery bags at its 18 stores in Pennsylvania by Thursday, Sept. 22, at which time the regional grocer will have finished its plan to discontinue them chainwide by the year’s end. Wegmans noted that its goal involves shifting customers to reusable bags. |
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| ONLINE RETAIL | | | U.S. online grocery sales sustain for August
U.S. e-grocery sales are maintaining the significantly high plateau they reached when the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a dramatic surge in online shopping activity.
Total U.S. online grocery sales dipped less than 1% in August versus last year but still racked up an impressive — and consistent — $8.5 billion in total sales. The substantially elevated sales levels — including $8.2 billion in 2020 and $8.6 in 2021 — also reflect shifting online shopping patterns, according to the survey. All three segments — pickup, delivery and ship-to-home — have grown since pre-pandemic. |
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