The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), America’s largest grocery retailer, today announced Kroger Ship will expand to offer an extended ship-to-home assortment through a marketplace offering of third-party sellers powered by Mirakl, the leading software platform enabling B2C and B2B digital marketplaces.
“Our customers are increasingly turning to our e-commerce solutions provided at Kroger.com for their grocery and household essential needs. To better serve our customers, we’re continuing to invest in technology that enables us to expand our digital services to deliver anything, anytime, anywhere,” said Jody Kalmbach, Kroger’s group vice president of product experience. “Leveraging Mirakl’s best-in-class marketplace solution, we are broadening Kroger’s ship-to-home capabilities by offering more relevant products for our customers through exciting new partnerships with reputable third-party sellers.”
Kroger Ship, which launched in August 2018, will offer customers an extended aisle of products made available through marketplace partners. Initially, more than 50,000 additional items will be available to customers across multiple categories, including natural and organic, international food, specialty items, housewares and toys.
“Kroger has long been a retail giant, and by integrating an online marketplace into its leading eCommerce experience, Kroger is continuing to lead from the front,” said Adrien Nussenbaum, CEO and Co-founder of Mirakl. “It’s clearer than ever that digital marketplaces are the foundation of the next generation of commerce, and we look forward to supporting Kroger as it takes advantage of this opportunity.”
Kroger’s marketplace products are expected to launch this fall. Eligible Kroger.com orders earn loyalty rewards like fuel points.
“The expansion of our Kroger Ship platform will continue to bring together our industry-leading customer insights and merchandising data to offer our customers a digital shopping experience that includes staples available in our physical stores as well as products that are exclusive to Kroger.com,” said Stuart Aitken, Kroger’s senior vice president and chief merchant and marketing officer. “As part of our continuing transformation, we look forward to accelerating the development of our e-commerce platform and providing our customers with even more choices.”
Kroger’s strategic investments in e-commerce technology and channels over the past two and half years under Restock Kroger have positioned the company to more effectively respond to the sustained, increased demand of delivery, pickup and ship-to-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Kroger’s first quarter 2020 results, its digital sales grew 92 percent.
