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Tag: Kroger

  • Kroger and Drone Express Testing Autonomous Drone Grocery Deliveries

    Kroger and Drone Express Testing Autonomous Drone Grocery Deliveries

    Kroger is working with Drone Express, a division of TELEGRID Technologies, to test autonomous drones for grocery deliveries.

    Multiple companies are working to deploy drones, with plans to use them for autonomous deliveries. Late last year, the Federal Aviation Administration cleared unmanned drones for night flights and flights over people, a critical next step in widespread adoption.

    Kroger is now the next major company looking to deploy autonomous drones for deliveries, and is turning to Drone Express to help it. Kroger will test its pilot program around the Kroger Marketplace in Centerville, Ohio.

    “Kroger’s new drone delivery pilot is part of the evolution of our rapidly growing and innovative e-commerce business – which includes pickup, delivery, and ship and reached more than $10 billion in sales in 2020,” said Kroger’s Jody Kalmbach, group vice president of product experience. “The pilot reinforces the importance of flexibility and immediacy to customers, powered by modern, cost-effective, and efficient last-mile solutions. We’re excited to test drone delivery and gain insights that will inform expansion plans as well as future customer solutions.”

    “Autonomous drones have unlimited potential to improve everyday life, and our technology opens the way to safe, secure, environmentally friendly deliveries for Kroger customers,” said Beth Flippo, Chief Technology Officer, TELEGRID. “The possibilities for customers are endless – we can enable Kroger customers to send chicken soup to a sick friend or get fast delivery of olive oil if they run out while cooking dinner.”

  • Kroger CEO: Customers That Engage Digitally Spend Twice As Much

    Kroger CEO: Customers That Engage Digitally Spend Twice As Much

    “Customers that engage with us from a digital standpoint also continue to enjoy coming into the store,” says Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen. “They also spend about twice as much with us. When you look at those things together I really feel optimistic about the future. We’re continuing to make progress on the things that matter on a seamless experience… digital, fresh, and friendly.”

    Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger, says that customers who engage digitally come in more often and spend twice as much on average as non-digital customers:

    Seamless Experience of Digital, Fresh, and Friendly

    Every day our associates are taking care of our customers. We’re continuing to make progress on the things that matter on a seamless experience… digital, fresh, and friendly. When you look at the things behind the numbers continuing strong trends. If you look at the things that we’re doing it sets us up well for the fourth quarter and sets us to continue to gain share in 2021 as well.

    One of the things that our customers are telling us is they’ve learned how to cook, they enjoy cooking, and they enjoy the time together as a family. Also, I think the economy continually will continue to be a little bit soft which will cause people to eat at home more as well. Both of those things will continue to provide support (for increased sales).

    Customers That Engage Digitally Spend Twice As Much

    Obviously, we’re anxious for the vaccine to get here and to get widespread use of it just like everyone else is. We were making great progress in gaining share even before COVID 19 started and we expect once things get back to normal we’ll be able to continue to gain share as well. We can’t wait until a vaccine gets out there and it gets widespread usage.

    I really believe our teams will continue to take care of our customers and the seamless experience will tie it all together. What we find are customers that engage with us from a digital standpoint also continue to enjoy coming into the store. They also spend about twice as much with us. When you look at those things together I really feel optimistic about the future.

    Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen: Customers That Engage Digitally Spend Twice As Much
  • Kroger CEO: Digital Business Is Up 127 Percent

    Kroger CEO: Digital Business Is Up 127 Percent

    “Our digital business is up 127 percent,” says Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen. “When you look at what our customers tell us and one of the reasons why our digital business is so strong is things that are personalized. We continue to look at what the customer wants and needs and then how do we serve those. What we find are our store teams, our pickup associates, and delivery is very important.”

    “Customers are at the center of everything we do and, as a result, we are growing market share,” noted McMullen in their earnings release. “Kroger’s strong digital business is a key contributor to this growth, as the investments made to expand our digital ecosystem are resonating with customers. Our results continue to show that Kroger is a trusted brand and our customers choose to shop with us because they value the product quality and freshness, convenience, and digital offerings that we provide.”

    Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger, discusses how their digital business has been particularly key to powering their massive growth amid the COVID pandemic:

    Digital Business Is Up 127 Percent

    Customers are continuing to shop in our stores. When they shop in our stores, the count is down but the amount they spend per visit is up significantly. Also, our digital business is up 127 percent. Customers continue to engage in that. What we’re finding is that in markets where COVID is having a lower incident rate or where it is having a higher incident rate, it really doesn’t have that much of a difference. The thing that’s exciting is that people are finding they enjoy cooking and they enjoy eating as a family. It’s really all those things together that gave us the confidence to go out with the (earnings) guidance that we did.

    We’re really looking at this for the long term, what’s right for the customer today and what’s right for the customer two or three years out. The increased volume has allowed us to leverage some costs. What we’re doing is taking some of that and sharing it with the customer by waiving our pickup fee. Also, we’ve continued to do promotions throughout the pandemic and we continue to share some of that with the customer. We really do fundamentally just believe the customers will reward us once we get out of the pandemic as well. It’s just the right thing to do and it’s the right thing to do to help a customer’s budget go a little further.

    Digital Business Is Strong Because Of Personalization

    For us, it’s the whole total experience. When you look at what our customers tell us and one of the reasons why our digital business is so strong is things that are personalized. We also do incredibly well on fresh. Customers tell us and they expect that our fresh is really good and good relative to our competition. It’s really all of those things together. We’ve had a membership program for a long time and you didn’t have to pay for it. It’s fuel rewards and we do loyal customer mailings and all those things.

    We continue to look at what the customer wants and needs and then how do we serve those. What we find are our store teams, our pickup associates, and delivery is very important. We are making sure we have that total balance of the experience both from a people standpoint, a price standpoint promotion, and then kind of sealing the deal with fresh products as well.

    Digital Business Is Up 127 Percent Says Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen
  • Kroger CEO: How We Compete for Software Engineers with Facebook

    Kroger CEO: How We Compete for Software Engineers with Facebook

    Kroger and all retailers are fast becoming tech companies and thus have the difficult task of competing with companies like Facebook for top tech talent. According to Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, one of their secrets to recruiting software engineers is the promise of more responsibility quicker than anywhere else.

    Rodney McMullen, Kroger Chairman and CEO, reveals how Kroger competes with Facebook and the tech world for software engineers at NRF 2019, Retails Big Show:

    How Kroger Competes for Tech Talent

    In terms of the number of employees, I think you will have the same number but the skillsets will be a lot different. If you look at digital, for example, we have 500 people in our digital team. Within 2-3 years we will have a thousand. With software engineers, it is a completely different type of talent. Yes, we compete with (Facebook). It’s kind of fascinating.

    It’s important for people to eat. It’s important for people to eat things they like. If you come to Kroger you are able to help people get exactly what they want when they want it. You get immediate feedback on something that is incredibly important. If the customer likes it you see it immediately. If they don’t like it you see it immediately. So you get great feedback.

    More Responsibility Quicker Than Anywhere Else

    I always tell people when we are recruiting them, I guarantee you that you will have more responsibility quicker than anywhere else. We have 25-year-old and 30-year-old people running $100 million and $200 million businesses.

    On a couple of tests that we have going on right now, we have two interns that actually did the software work to get it in place. When their internship finished they went back to college and kept working with us to finish the project they worked on. It’s one of those things that you get a tremendous amount of responsibility incredibly fast.

    The Future of Retail

    I think the store will be multi-purpose. I think about one of our bigger stores. It wouldn’t surprise me if you had a small warehouse in the back of that store. You will use the same footprint, but half of it may be a physical store that is an experience space, half of it will be more warehouse efficiency space.


  • Supermarket Shooting: 2 Injured, Suspect in Custody

    Supermarket Shooting: 2 Injured, Suspect in Custody

    A supermarket shooting in an Atlanta, Georgia Kroger left two women with non-life threatening injuries, one shot in the leg and the other in her torso. The shooting happened Monday as a crowd of people hurried to stock up before a predicted winter storm, according to Fox News.

    Police spokesman Greg Vaughn said, “The scene is a little chaotic. You can probably imagine with everybody stocking up on bread and milk.”

    Many customer who were in the store at the time of the shooting reported hiding in freezers until the store was cleared and a male suspect was apprehended, according to Reuters. It is not apparent whether the people involved even knew each other, but police interviewed witnesses and the investigation is ongoing.

    “This Kroger is actually pretty busy anyway, and you’re looking at noontime, and then they had extra customers in here stocking up for our snowstorm,” Vaughn said.

    Apparently, there was an argument that prompted the shooting, but no details of that argument have been given.

    The store has been evacuated, and that particular Kroger will open at a later date. Police say that the shooting was an isolated incident and they believe that no one is in danger anymore.

    People were not expecting the shooting as they were preparing for the storm. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal had already declared a state of emergency for nearly a third of the state, as schools went ahead and canceled classes and workers were told to stay home.

    Those areas of Georgia are shuttering themselves in, as they definitely don’t want a replay of last month’s ice disaster where children were stuck on buses for hours and in schools, some overnight and some were stuck on major roadways for hours before many decided to get out and walk home amid the freezing chaos.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Black Widow Spider Found in Aldi Mart Grapes

    Black Widow Spider Found in Aldi Mart Grapes

    Discount supermarket chain Aldi removed its entire stock of grapes from the shelves of its Milwaukee, Wisconsin, stores in early November, after a shopper found a black widow spider in a container. The red grapes in that incident were purchased from Aldi’s Wauwatosa, WI, branch, and other black widow sightings have been reported at grocery stores in Michigan, Missouri and Minnesota, in recent months.

    The black widow spider is a venomous species of the genus Latrodectus. The spiders are known for their striking red and black markings, and for the practice of the female sometimes eating the male soon after mating. Their venom in neurotoxic, and seldomly fatal to humans, though children and the elderly are more susceptible.

    A few days prior to the latest incident in Wisconsin, a Michigan couple found a live spider in a bag of red grapes purchased in Brighton. In St. Louis, two more black widows were found in red grape containers in early October. In Minnesota, a spider was found in a crate of grapes at a school in Maplewood.

    Aldi has pledged to use additional inspection procedures to help prevent any future spider incidents.

    Black widows aren’t aggressive by nature, though will bite if cornered. One shouldn’t handle the spiders, and the best thing to do is to trap them in some sort of container, and move them outside.

    The practice of using the spiders on farms in place of pesticides might explain their appearances in grocery stores, as of late. A decade ago, customers had complained about finding black widows in bundles of grapes purchased at Tesco supermarkets in the United Kingdom. A grape farmer later admitted to purposely using the black widows to control pests.

    Incidentally, the UK has recently had its own problem with a widow spider of the “false” variety, after an infestation of the species shut down a school. Though, English false widows, of the genus Steatoda, are far less harmful to humans than the famous black widow of the Americas. Some members of the false widow genus can inflict bites which are medically significant in humans, though they generally don’t have any long-lasting effects.

    Symptoms of black widow bites are a bit more pronounced, and typically include fever and swelling. Victims should apply ice to the bite, and also consult with a doctor to obtain anti-venom.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • ConAgra Recalls Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

    ConAgra Recalls Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

    If you have recently purchased any Kroger brand chocolate chip cookie dough and have allergies to peanuts, you may want to think before you start baking and read the press release issued by the FDA.

    ConAgra Foods and the United States Food and Drug Administration have started recalling some of the Kroger brand chocolate chip cookie dough packages that may have, mistakenly, been filled with peanut butter cookie dough instead.

    This recall is limited to the Kroger brand Break ‘N Bake Chocolate Chip cookie dough having the following UPC and Use by date:
    Item: Kroger Break ‘N Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, 16 oz. packages
    Unit UPC: 11110 87530
    Use by: 24NOV13C21

    This product is not only sold in Kroger, but is sold in other grocery stores as well, including: Dillons, Baker’s, Gerbes, Foods Co., Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Jay C, Owen’s, Pay Less, Scott’s, QFC, Ralphs and Smith’s stores.

    Only 26 states had this product shipped to their stores. The impacted states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

    Kroger issued a news release about the recall and urged customers to check their refrigerators to see if they have purchased that specific type of cookie dough. The release read: “People who are allergic to peanuts could have a serious or life-threatening reaction if they consume this product. For customers who are not allergic to peanuts, there is no safety issue with the product. There have been no illnesses reported to date in connection with this product.”

    Customers who have questions about the recall should contact ConAgra Foods consumer relations toll free at 800-252-0634.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Kroger Cookie Dough Recalled Due to Mispackage

    Kroger Cookie Dough Recalled Due to Mispackage

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that ConAgra Foods is recalling some Kroger-branded “Break ‘N Bake” chocolate chip cookie dough packages. Unlike other, more serious recalls of foods over possible contamination, the Kroger cookie dough recall is relatively benign.

    The cookie dough is being recalled over mispackaging concerns. Certain lots of the product, instead of containing the chocolate chip cookie dough promised on the package, actually contain peanut butter cup cookie dough. Consumers who don’t realize the mistake and also have peanut allergies could be in danger. The FDA has stated that no illnesses have yet been reported as a result of the error.

    The packages can be returned to the stores where they were bought for a full refund. Of course, customers who aren’t allergic to peanuts could also feel free to bake and enjoy their peanut butter cup cookies (though the FDA suggests returning them).

    The affected packages have a Use by code of “24NOV13C21” and a UPC code of “11110 87530.” The cookie dough was shipped to Kroger distribution centers in 26 states, mostly in the eastern, southern, and midwestern U.S. but including California, Nevada, and Oregon. In addition to Kroger stores, the packages were sold in other stores including Ralphs, Smith’s, Dillons, Baker’s, Gerbes, Foods Co., Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Jay C, Owen’s, Pay Less, Scott’s, and QFC.

    (Image courtesy FDA)

  • Kroger Launches Online Coupon Center

    Kroger Launches Online Coupon Center

    Kroger has launched a new online coupon center available on its website.

    The coupon center offers manufacturer, Kroger brand and web-only coupons, allin one online center. Users can load offers onto their Kroger Plus Card or loyalty cards for other stores Kroger operates including City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Jay C, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith’s.

    "This new digital coupon center makes it even easier for our customers to save money," said Evan Anthony, vice president of corporate marketing and advertising for Kroger.

    Kroger-Coupons

    "Our customers asked to make online coupons easier for them to use and we listened. The time and money they can save is just the latest way Kroger delivers more value to its customers."

    Users can select up to 150 coupons and then click the "Load Coupons to Card" option to digitally "clip" each coupon and add them directly to their Kroger Plus Card. Coupons will be available one hour after they are loaded onto a customer’s card. Each digital coupon loaded to the site is subject to an expiration date, generally within six weeks of being loaded to the digital coupon center.

    Earlier this summer, Kroger launched its Summer of Savings program. Also available from Kroger’s homepage, the program includes an instant-win sweepstakes and special summer-themed coupons for customers.