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ecommerce

January 29, 2019

Giant Foods Opening a Physical Hub for Ecommerce Orders

GIANT Foods announced yesterday it will open a new physical hub in Pennsylvania that only services ecommerce orders. With this move, Giant joins the ranks of grocery stores architecting new experiences to accommodate the growth in online shopping.

Opening Feb. 12 in Lancaster, PA, the new 38,000 sq. ft. hub will be called Giant Direct, Powered by Peapod (both Giant and Peapod are subsidiaries of Ahold Delhaize). It will be a fulfillment center for orders placed online via Giant or Peapod’s websites or apps, and will offer delivery as well as a dedicated pull-up area where groceries can be brought out directly to a customer’s car.

For customers without online access, there are also vestibules at the store where customers can walk up and place their orders via tablets.

The new hub was announced last June, and as Grocery Dive reports, is a re-model of a traditional retail location that closed in 2017. The new hub will be able to serve 40 percent more customers than its previous iteration, and because it only services online orders, can speed up fulfillment of order delivery to the neighborhoods it services.

Ahold Delhaize and retailers across the grocery spectrum are making big infrastructure changes in anticipation of big growth in ecommerce. According to KPMG more than half of U.S. consumers are expected to shop online for groceries this year.

Earlier this month, Ahold Delhaize tapped Robomart for (eventual) autonomous mobile commerce. The company has also partnered with Takeoff to build out micro robotic fulfillment centers in the back of some of its stores.

Kroger is building out the first of its planned twenty robotic “sheds” to speed up online order fulfillment, and is also piloting self driving delivery vehicles.

Walmart is retrofitting a store in New Hampshire with a mini-robotic fulfillment center for faster order processing and is also experimenting with self-driving delivery.

What I’m most curious about with the new Giant Direct store is if and how people will use the in-store tablets. How big will the average orders be, and how fast will they get fulfilled? Will people place an order, run errands and return, or will they wait in their cars?

If you’re in the Lancaster area and plan to shop at Giant Direct, we’d love to hear how your experience was. Leave a comment or drop us a line.

August 1, 2018

Kroger Ship Adds Another Online Ordering Platform for the Grocer

Grocery giant Kroger announced today that it has launched Kroger Ship, a direct to consumer e-commerce platform.

At launch, Kroger Ship is available in four markets: Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville and Nashville, but the company said it will expand to additional markets over the next few months. The service promises “fast and free” home delivery on orders over $35, otherwise shipping is $4.99 per order. However, during the launch phase customers will get free shipping with no minimum purchase required.

Kroger Ship is not to be confused with Kroger Delivery; the grocer’s partnership with Instacart, which offers two-hour delivery from local stores. Kroger Ship is meant for more non-perishable items like cereal, canned goods, cleaning supplies, etc..

The announcement today isn’t a tectonic one in the fiercely competitive battle of grocery delivery currently being waged by Kroger, Amazon, Walmart, Albertsons, Target and just about every other grocer. But it does give shoppers another option when purchasing from Kroger and helps broaden the company’s delivery strategy.

Earlier this year, Kroger increased its investment in UK company Ocado, which powers robotic smart warehouses and last mile logistics. Through an exclusive partnership, Kroger plans to build similar automated fulfillment centers here in the U.S., and has already begun identifying locations. In June, Kroger also partnered up with robotics startup Nuro to create a self-driving grocery delivery car pilot program, which will launch this fall.

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