Grocery Roundup: Kroger Expands Grocery Delivery; Sam’s Club Leverages Autonomous Vehicles

As grocers look to grow their omnichannel reach, Kroger, the United States’ leading pure-play grocer, is building out its first-party delivery capabilities across the country.

On Wednesday (June 8), the company announced the expansion of its Kroger Delivery business to South Florida with a new 60,000 square-foot fulfillment center for digital orders. The move comes as grocers look to meet digital demand without relying on third parties, which take a portion of the profit and stand between the grocers and their relationships with their customers.

“We’re thrilled to introduce customers to Kroger Delivery in South Florida,” Andrea Colby, eCommerce corporate affairs and communications manager at Kroger, said in a statement. “We offer customers a more convenient option to access fresh food and grocery items. Kroger Delivery is an easy, seamless way to order groceries, have them arrive in refrigerated vans, delivered to your door by professional, uniformed associates all based on your demanding schedule.”

Research from PYMNTS’ study Decoding Customer Affinity: The Customer Loyalty to Merchants Survey 2022, created in collaboration with Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, which drew from the results of a late fall survey of a census-balanced panel of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers, found that just 18% of consumers prefer purchasing groceries online to purchasing them in stores. However, the study also found that digital-first grocery shoppers are more loyal than their brick-and-mortar counterparts, more likely to purchase from just one merchant and less likely to shop with three or more merchants.

Get the full report: Decoding Consumer Affinity: The Customer Loyalty To Merchants Survey 2022

Walmart Expands Gatik Partnership to 34 Sam’s Club Stores

As grocers face a difficult driver labor market, impacting every step of the supply chain, Walmart is automating short-haul routes from distribution centers to stores.

On Tuesday (June 7), “middle mile” logistics autonomous vehicle company Gatik announced a partnership with Koch Industries’ transportation arm KBX and tissue, pulp, packaging and building products maker Georgia-Pacific to deliver the latter’s products to 34 Sam’s Club locations.

“By integrating our class 6 autonomous solution into KBX’s sophisticated infrastructure across Dallas-Fort Worth, Gatik will be able to deliver Georgia-Pacific products to a vast network of Sam’s Club locations with unparalleled reliability, speed and consistency,” Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik, said in a statement.

Walmart has been partnering with Gatik for years. In November, the two companies began the first-ever fully driverless middle-mile delivery test in the world in Bentonville, Arkansas.

See also: Walmart Marks Milestone With Fully Driverless Deliveries

“We are looking forward to testing this transformational technology to deliver Georgia-Pacific brands like Quilted Northern bath tissue and Dixie products to Sam’s Clubs,” Hayes Shimp, vice president of sales for Georgia-Pacific, stated. “Once proven, we believe autonomous deliveries will enable us to remove cost and complexity from the supply chain so that we can better serve Sam’s Club and their members.”

Walmart Partners with Senior Care App for Grocery Delivery to Older Relatives

In additional Walmart grocery news, Avanlee, an app offering families remote care tools for senior relatives, announced a partnership with the mega-retailer Tuesday, enabling users to order groceries to be delivered from Walmart to their family members through the app.

“Integrating online grocery ordering and delivery from Walmart into Avanlee Care further helps our caregivers access everything they need to support an aging relative in one place,” Avanlee Christine, CEO and founder of Avanlee Care, said in a statement. “The delivery status tracking gives caregivers confidence that their relative has the food they need when they need it.”

Older consumers are significantly less likely to make digital grocery purchases to be brought to their doors. Research from PYMNTS’ 2021 How We Eat Playbook, created in collaboration with Carat from Fiserv, which drew from a survey of a census-balanced panel of 5,200 U.S. adults, found that while more than two-thirds of consumers now order at least some of their groceries online for delivery, less than half of all baby boomers and seniors do so.

Read more: Restaurants and Grocers See Path to Picking up 200M New Customers

California Supermarket Chain Pilot Tests Aisle-Roving Analytics Robots

Los Angeles-based grocery chain Vallarta Supermarkets, which has more than 50 locations across California, is pilot testing autonomous robots created by Badger Technologies, the retail automation technology division of manufacturing services company Jabil, at several of its stores. The robots clean floors, offer analytics about shelf stocking, and provide notifications about potential hazards, among other features.

“Providing our customers with a clean, safe environment is critical to our customers’ experience,” Steve Netherton, chief information officer and vice president of continuous improvement at Vallarta Supermarkets, said in a statement. “When we look at where to invest in innovative technologies, improving store operations is always a high priority. The Badger Technologies robots are helping us set new standards in store safety and cleanliness while ensuring a superlative shopping experience.”