Restock Kroger: Digital Transformation of a Grocery Retailer
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W&M-M-203 Restock Kroger: Digital Transformation of a Grocery Retailer In October 2017, the Kroger Company introduced a strategy called Restock Kroger. Its purpose was to transform the customer shopping experience. Competitive pressures, evolving customer shopping behavior and lackluster financial results prompted Kroger leadership to improve the physical and digital experience. Restock Kroger included significant investments in technology, space and merchandise optimization, and expense reduction, employee training and establishing external company partnerships. Restock Kroger required approximately $9 billion in capital investment. It was expected to generate $400 million in incremental operating margin by 2020. During a recent earnings call, William McMullen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kroger, stated, “We continue to make significant investments to build an omnichannel platform that will deliver customers anything, anytime, anywhere.” 2 The adoption of online channels for food and beverage purchases was sluggish in the U.S. This situation was expected to change quickly, however, as online purchases of food and beverage were forecasted to grow exponentially over the next several years. “Many of these shifts have occurred very quickly in the past couple of years, leading to an inflection point with grocery industry momentum now leaning firmly toward digital. This change represents a massive market dislocation that is both a threat and opportunity to brands and retailers, depending on how well they adapt.” 3 In response, many of Kroger’s largest competitors in the grocery-retailing sector were also investing heavily in technology (e.g., Amazon.com, Walmart). According to Nilam Ganenthiram, chief business officer at Instacart, “In the past year, everything has changed as every major grocer in North America brought its business online in a significant way.” We believe that in the next five years, one in five households will be shopping for their groceries online.” Kroger CEO McMullen faced a significant challenge over the next several years with the execution and implementation of Restock Kroger. The proposed technology investments were formidable, especially in the first 1-2 years of implementation. As a result, these investments placed considerable strain on meeting the financial expectations of the investment community. During the 4th quarter of 2018, Kroger reported a decrease of 9.5 percent in sales to $28.1 billion compared with 4Q 2017 (See Exhibit 1 for financial statements). As a result, many experts were highly skeptical of the new strategy. _____________________________________________________________________________________ This case was written by Ronald L. Hess, Associate Professor of Marketing at The Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & Mary as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective management practice. Copyright 2019 by the Foundation Board of the Raymond A. Mason School of Business.
Restock Kroger represented the most ambitious and challenging transformation in the
company’s history. Many questions remained about whether Restock Kroger could be a
success.
Food Spending and Online Shopping:
Total sales of grocery products (food and beverage) reached $970.67 billion in the U.S. in 2019.
This represents the largest retail category with the exception of automobile sales and parts. 4
According to a study by Precima and IDC, total food spending, which includes both grocery
products and out-of-home eating, increased by approximately 3.7 percent annually from 1991-
2014.5 Spending with grocery retailers, however, grew by only 2.2 percent during that same
period. Out-of-home eating reached $821 billion in 2017 compared with $818 billion for in-
home eating. 6
Historically, online sales of food and beverage lagged all other major retail product categories.
Exhibit 2 provides a comparison of online penetration of food and beverage versus other major
retail categories. Online sales of grocery products were expected to reach $19.9 billion in 2019,
representing only 2.0 percent of sales for the category and 3.3 percent of e-commerce sales in
the U.S. 7 Online sales of grocery products, however, were expected to be the fastest growing
product category in 2019, increasing by 18.2 percent.8 Online sales of these products were
expected to nearly double over the next 4 years (increase of approximately 91.7 percent),
reaching $38.16 billion by 2023. Nielson estimated that online sales would grow by
approximately 40 percent annually for several years. 9
In terms of global penetration, U.S. online purchases of the food and beverage category also
trailed other countries by a wide margin. As shown in Exhibit 3, China ($50 billion), Japan
($31.9 billion) and South Korea ($9.9 billion) experienced the highest online sales of food and
beverage.10 Asian markets were ideal for online sales of this category due to widespread m-
commerce adoption and the abundance of high-density urban locations within the region.
Online Customer Demographics and Shopping Behavior
The age of the customer significantly influenced online purchases of grocery products.
Specifically, IRI found that 55 percent of customers between the ages of 25-34 years were ‘very’
or ‘somewhat’ likely to purchase online. In contrast, only 45 percent for the 35-45 age group
and 35 percent for the 45-54 age group were willing to make these online purchases.11
Furthermore, males (38 percent) were more willing than females (29 percent) to make online
purchases of grocery products. The study also indicated that 45 percent of higher income
households (over $100,000) were more likely to use an online channel for purchases than those
with less income (29 percent under $50,000; 38 percent between $50,000-100,000).
2
A recent study by Mercatus indicated that only 13 percent of customers purchased grocery
products online at least three times over a three-month period. This percentage dropped to 7
percent for those customers that purchased online more than six times during that period.
According to Stephan Caine, partner at Bain & Company, “It’s a pretty small fraction of the
population that has developed any sort of habit around it [online grocery shopping]. “[There’s]
a good degree of trial, but the problem is frequency. Even for those who would be considered
heavy online grocery users, e-commerce still accounted for a minority percentage of their
overall shopping trips. For them, it is still once – maybe twice – a month. Whereas, we know
the average number of shopping trips for any typical household is closer to 10 to 12 [times per
month].” 12
Customer Adoption of Digital Channels
Most customers (53 percent) were reluctant to adopt an online channel because of a desire to
see and touch fresh foods. While 89 percent of customers made an online purchase of
nonperishable food, only 51 percent purchased perishable products online. 13 Prepared food,
which includes meal kits (all ingredients included to prepare the meal), represented the leading
perishable food category purchased online.
Furthermore, purchases of perishable food were relegated to frozen/refrigerated categories or
those products less susceptible to quality variation and decay. According to IRI, five of the top
ten fastest growing perishable online food sales were refrigerated lunches (81 percent), frozen
appetizers (77 percent), frozen breakfasts (74 percent), refrigerated donuts (74 percent) and
cream cheese (70 percent). 14
Following the desire to see and touch fresh products, 46 percent of customers were reluctant
to adopt an online channel due to the habitual nature of shopping for groceries at a physical
retail store. Breaking customers’ habit of shopping in-store was a significant detriment to
online adoption. Also, noteworthy, the belief that online channels were more expensive than
physical stores was mentioned by only 9 percent of customers. See Exhibit 5 for further
categories inhibiting the adoption of online shopping.
What is driving customer adoption of online grocery shopping? According to a study published
by e-Marketer, the primary factor boosting adoption was convenience (53 percent) by a wide
margin, followed by ease of identifying sales and deals (29 percent), locating products (28
percent), searching by product attributes (27 percent), and comparing products (26 percent).
Online channels provided substantial benefits in terms of product details (ingredients,
allergens, and dietary compliance), ratings, reviews, questions/answers, video testimonials,
recipes and social media linkages.
The most significant challenge to convenience was building the basket of preferred grocery
products. This task is demanding due to the extensive selection of merchandise that was
3
available online and the arduous online searching that was necessary to locate typically
purchased merchandise.
According to Ted Mann, chief executive officer of Slyce, “one of the biggest pain points for
grocery retailers is making the first order.” 15 Technologies such as visual search, voice input,
and barcode scanning within the app or website, and personalizing shopping carts based on
previous orders and shopping behavior can simplify the basket building process.
Traditional grocery retailers may have an advantage with customers adopting digital channels
for grocery purchases. Bain & Co. revealed that 85 percent of shoppers would select their
current grocery chain when purchasing online. Only 11 percent indicated a willingness to select
a different grocery chain and 4 percent would use an online-only chain. 16
Online Purchase Fulfillment Methods
There are two primary methods of fulfillment for online purchases, which include home
delivery and customer pickup (click-and-collect). Exhibit 6 provides a comparison of the usage
of these delivery methods from 2015 to 2018. The widespread availability of same-day delivery
was responsible for the strong increase in home delivery of online grocery products. In 2018,
483 metropolitan areas in the U.S. had same-day delivery versus only 89 in 2017.17
In addition to home delivery, click-and-collect or pay online, pickup in store (BOPIS), was
recognized as the most important driver of online adoption. Market Force Information found
that customer usage of this method increased drastically from 4.3 percent in 2016 to 14.9
percent in 2018. Nearly every major retail chain added click-and-collect services over the past
several years. For example, the availability of these services at Walmart, Kroger, Target, Ahold
and Albertsons increased drastically from 2,451 locations in 2017 to 5,800 locations in 2018.
Retailer Investment in Technology
Two primary retailers, Amazon.com and Walmart, held the largest share of online grocery
products sales. According to TABS Analytics, 25 percent of respondents indicated that they
purchased online grocery products from Amazon.com in 2018, with Walmart being next at 15
percent. 18 Target trailed Amazon.com and Walmart considerably at only 9 percent.
However, when customers were asked about their most recent online purchase of grocery
products, occurring within the last 30 days, the Retail Feedback Group found that 33 percent
shopped at Walmart compared with 31 percent at Amazon.com. 19 This same study revealed
that Walmart grew rapidly in the past year from 26 percent in 2017 to 33 percent in 2018.
Walmart successfully leveraged its scale (over 4,600 physical locations), widespread availability
of click-and-collect (over 2,100 locations), convenient delivery service offerings (800 locations)
and greater proficiency of omnichannel execution to gain market share for online grocery
products. 20
4
According to Sam Gagliardi, Senior Vice President of e-Commerce for IRI, “visibility and
discoverability is the key advantage for Walmart and brick-and-mortar retailers over online-only
grocers. With physical stores, customers have ‘that option put right in front of their face [and
ask,] Why am I here, when I can just buy this online and pick it up in the parking lot?” 21
Walmart planned to add grocery pickup services at an additional 1,000 stores in 2019.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com was well aware that physical locations might provide a compelling
advantage in grocery retailing. In 2017, the company shook up the competitive environment
with the acquisition of Whole Foods. In addition, Bloomberg reported that Amazon planned to
open 3,000 Amazon Go stores throughout the U.S. This forward-thinking physical store
concept offered cashier-less checkout. The system required customers to download the
Amazon Go app and shop for products as usual. Video analytics systems were used to tabulate
a bill and charge the credit card on file as customers walked out of the store.22
Target also accelerated its online grocery offering, click-and-collect capabilities and last mile
fulfillment over the past several years. In 2017, Target acquired Shipt to assist with same-day
delivery and curbside pickup. Currently, the company only offered nonperishable food items
for curbside pickup.
The grocery retailing industry also faced competition from several start-ups including Brandless
and Boxed Wholesale. Brandless offered customers a selection of sustainably sourced, private-
label products with healthy ingredients, at low prices. In addition, the company provided a
carefully curated product mix to customers, drastically reducing selection to only 300 products
across 60 categories. 23
Boxed Wholesale was the online equivalent to warehouse clubs such as, Costco and Sam’s Club.
It delivered bulk products to customers without a membership fee. The company attracted
considerable attention from many major retailers over the past several years. In January 2018,
Kroger attempted to acquire Boxed Wholesale for $400 million. Boxed Wholesale, however,
rejected that offer. More recently, the company was in acquisition discussions with several
other major retailers such as Amazon.com, Alibaba and Costco.
Finally, Instacart collaborated with over 300 retailers to assist with in-store merchandise picking
and delivery. According to CB Insights, Instacart added customers at an exponential rate over
the past year due to Amazon.com’s acquisition of Whole Foods.24 As shown in Exhibit 7,
Instacart’ s largest customers include Walmart, Sam’s Club, Aldi, Kroger, Food Lion, CVS, H-E-B,
Safeway, Albertson’s, Publix, Costco, and Petco, among others.
Because of this competitive activity, the price wars also intensified among these major retailers.
According to a recent study by Profitero, both Walmart and Jet.com had higher prices than
Amazon.com on online grocery products. The study revealed that Walmart and Jet.com were
2.5 and 0.6 percent higher than Amazon was, respectively was. In addition, the study also
revealed that online prices at Target were 8.4 percent higher than Amazon.com and the most
expensive across the other major retailers included in the study. 25
5
In a follow-up study, Profitero analyzed prices of 100,000 grocery products across 15 categories
and found that no retailers had lower prices than Amazon.com. According to Keith Anderson,
senior vice president of product strategy and insights at Profitero, “based on our latest data, it’s
clear that Amazon is the best-priced retailer across the broadest selection of products.” 26
Kroger Financial Results
Revenues for the company were inconsistent over the past several years. In FY2015, Kroger
revenues grew by only 1.26 percent to $109.8 billion. Over the following two years, revenues
increased steadily by 5.01 percent to $115.3 billion in FY2016 and 6.35 percent to $122.7 billion
in FY2017. Financial results are presented in Exhibit 1.
However, revenue growth turned negative in FY2018 by -1.22 percent to $121.16 billion. When
compared with other major competitors, Kroger’s revenues trailed Walmart and an index of
mass, club and dollar retailers (See Exhibit 2).
Gross income as a percent of sales dropped slightly from 20.25 percent or $22.2 billion in
FY2015 to 19.65 percent or $23.8 billion by FY2018. SG&A expenses rose over multiple years
from $18.6 billion in FY2015 to $22.1 billion in FY2017. For FY2018, the company reined in
SG&A expenses that dropped by -4.59 percent to $21.1 billion.
Over the past several years, net income had been quite sluggish at $2.02 billion (1.84%) in
FY2015, $1.95 billion (1.7%) in FY2016 and $1.89 billion (1.54%) in FY2017. In FY2018, net
income rebounded somewhat to $3.07 billion (2.54%) which was the highest in four years.
Restock Kroger
Restock Kroger was introduced during an investors’ conference in October 2017. The strategy
contained four main pillars: 1.) Redefine the Food and Grocery Customer Experience, 2.) Expand
Partnerships to Create Customer Value, 3.) Develop Talent, and 4.) Live Kroger Purpose Through
Social Impact. 27 Restock Kroger is shown in Exhibit 7.
Redefine the Food and Grocery Customer Experience: The first pillar, Redefine the Food and
Grocery Customer Experience, included five components. First, the company was focused on
utilizing the data that was collected to drive personalization that is more effective. According to
the company, 3 billion personalized recommendations and marketing messages were sent to
customers during 2017.
The objective of personalization was to create customer experiences that were highly
customized for “every customer and for every occasion”. These efforts required the company
to utilize its collection of big data and apply predictive analytics and artificial intelligence
techniques. The company relied heavily on 84:51, a data science consulting company that will
be discussed in a later section.
Next, the company focused on optimizing the digital experience, which included being
“available, accessible and relevant” to customers. Kroger relied heavily on its large number of
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physical retail stores, digital channels and distribution networks to be available to nearly all of
the U.S. population. In 2019, Kroger was available to 92 percent of the U.S. population, with a
goal of 100 percent coverage.
Accessible also involved the wide variety of channels that customers could use to engage with
Kroger. These included not only physical stores, but also web, mobile and voice activated
channels. The goal was to create a seamless experience for the customer. The company had
made huge strides with its implementation of click-and-collect services. Kroger planned to have
these services available across all locations and brand banners by 2020.
The company also aspired to be relevant to all customers by offering more choice to customers
no matter which channel they chose to engage with the company. This much extended aisle
included food items that were ready to heat (prepared meals that only required heating or
cooking), ready to eat (prepared meals with no cooking required), meal kits (all the ingredients
provided for the customer to prepare and cook a meal), and more choice (wider assortment of
merchandise in-store and online).
Yael Cosset, Group VP and Chief Digital Officer, was committed to offering wider choice without
a confusing or complicated online experience. Kroger redesigned the online experience so that
customers needed less time to select food items and complete the transaction. The company
also relied on partnerships and acquisitions to fulfill the wide variety of meal options. These
included Ocado, Kroger Ship, Nuro, and Instacart,
In addition, Kroger also focused on optimizing space allocation and merchandise assortments in
the physical stores. These efforts entailed the company to make data-driven space planning
and assortment decisions. Kroger also indicated that they were willing to “disrupt shelf” space
by drastically altering merchandise placement. 28 The company also planned to improve in-
stock position for merchandise.
Another component that Kroger was committed to was its private-label merchandise, which it
believed was a key asset to its future success. Kroger brands grew from $15 billion to $20.5
billion in sales from 2011 to 2017. 29 This represented 37 percent growth during this period or
approximately 5 percent annually.
Finally, Kroger was dedicated to significantly reducing customer churn due to price disparities
with major grocery competitors. Kroger stated publicly that it had invested $48 billion in
reducing prices since 2001. The company was well aware that value was a very important
driver of customer loyalty and engagement and pledged to keep this issue a priority in the
future.
Expand Partnerships to Create Customer Value: A very important pillar in the Restock Kroger
strategy included partnerships with a wide variety of companies throughout the world. One of
the primary acquisitions that supports the Restock Kroger initiatives was 84:51o. The company
was a joint venture with Dunnhumby, an analytics company established by Tesco in the UK.
7
Kroger acquired DunhumbyUSA in 2015 and renamed it 84:51o, which were the longitudinal
coordinates of the Kroger headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kroger relied on 84:51o to improve
marketing and promotions across all of its retail brands. 84:51o also provided analytics services
to other retailers and brands to support Restock Kroger initiatives. Kroger completed a new
center of operations in Cincinnati for 84:51o in 2018. 30
Kroger recently acquired Home Chef to prepare meal kits and meal solutions for customers. The
company also collaborated with Shipt to assist it with offering millions of products that were
not available in the physical stores. Kroger also drastically expanded its store coverage with a
partnership with Walgreen’s, which operated 9,500 stores in all fifty states in the U.S.
In addition, Kroger negotiated for many years to establish a relationship with Instacart. The
two companies agreed to establish a partnership that expanded Kroger’s coverage of e-
commerce delivery of food and beverage. Kroger also collaborated with Alibaba’s Tmall
platform to expand sales of its private-label brand, Simple Truth, to China and other countries.
One particularly interesting partnership that Kroger established was with Ocado, the largest
online-only grocery chain. Ocado was established in 2002 in the U.K., twelve years prior to
Instacart. The company developed a robotic system, shaped like a giant cube, to optimize
grocery product picking. The system, known as “the hive”, handled fifty-thousand products
across three segregated temperature regions. Machine learning applications were applied to
improve and optimize the system of robots that collaborated to pick 1.7 million items per day.
These A.I. applications also calculated when specific products had expired or were beyond the
freshness date.
Humans, which represented 60 percent of the company’s picking costs, also had a role in this
process. They were employed to place grocery products in plastic bags. Engineers were
developing a robotic hand that could handle fragile items such as fruits and vegetables, and
thus, eliminate the need for human intervention.
Most interesting, the company’s goal was to reduce picking and process costs to become less
costly for customers to perform the task themselves. The company expected to reach 12
percent profitability in FY2019 (6% was the industry average).
In addition, Kroger also invested in Nuro, a start-up company that developed autonomous
vehicles for low cost deliveries of online orders. The small vehicles utilized self-driving
technology using artificial intelligence. The vehicles were designed with multiple hatch doors
on each side. Each order was placed in a door that opened when the customer put a unique
numeric code in the keypad next to the door. Orders were delivered on the same day or next
day.
Another component of this pillar involved cost reduction. During a recent Kroger investor’s
conference, Mary Ellen Adcock, vice president of operations, stated that efforts on cost
reduction centered on checkout, reduction of shrink and cost of goods. Kroger provided both
8
self-checkout and self-scan (called Scan, Bag and Go) for customers. The company was
expanding both of these programs across all of its retail brands.
Adcock also indicated that the company had achieved several consecutive quarters of
improvement in shrink. She stated that one basis point improvement in shrink equaled
approximately $10 million in pretax income. Finally, a category-by-category review of costs of
merchandise was underway at Kroger. The company intended to leverage its size with
suppliers to reduce cost of goods and pass the savings along to customers.
Develop Talent: Restock Kroger also included a pillar centered on developing programs to
educate, train and rebalance pay and benefits for future leaders. This involved a commitment
of $500 million in human capital over the next three years for store associates. 31 These
programs focused on certifications, performance incentives and training. In addition, Kroger
pledged to add 500 more analytics experts (from 500) to the team at 84:51o.
Live Kroger Purpose Through Social Impact: Kroger was also committed to making a significant
social impact by beginning the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Plan in 2017. This program focused
on ending hunger in the communities that Kroger serves and eliminating waste by 2025.32
Restock Kroger and the Virtuous Cycle
With Restock Kroger, the company expected to generate $400 million in free cash flow and
operating profit by 2020. As illustrated in Exhibit 9, improvements in the physical and digital
customer experience were expected to provide greater customer traffic, merchandise sales and
share of wallet. Cost containment from self-checkout savings, reduced shrink and general
reduction in SG&A expenses also contributed to reaching this goal. Significant investments in
technology and expenses related to this transformation were likely to strip some of the
incremental income provided by these savings.
Kroger expected partnerships to generate the largest incremental income of approximately
$1.375 billion and thus offset these investments. The company expected to generate additional
revenues from newly formed partnerships and acquisitions, digital advertising revenues, media
businesses and personal finance.
William McMullen commented that “plainly stated Restock Kroger is all about transforming our
growth model. We will grow market share by creating a virtuous cycle built on our grocery
business. A constantly improving customer ecosystem generates traffic, customer data, and
insights, which fuel the growth of adjacent alternative profit streams. We see tremendous
potential in these asset light, margin rich businesses built on the foundation of an omnichannel
grocery experience. The profits generated by these businesses will create shareholder value
and generate cash to invest in Kroger’s core so we can further redefine the grocery customer
experience.” 33
Steady as We Go or Rough Journey Ahead?
9
The executive team expressed confidence that Restock Kroger put the company on-track for
much success and improved financial performance for the future. The company made
considerable progress toward reaching the goals set when Restock Kroger was introduced.
Kroger successfully sold the convenience store business in 2018 for $2.15 billion to EG Group, a
privately held petroleum company that operated in the U.K. The deal included 784 stores and
66 franchise stores located in eighteen states in the U.S. 34
In addition, the company implemented Kroger Edge (Enhanced Display for Grocery
Environment), an electronic shelf label technology, in 200 stores in 2018. 35 This technology was
installed in the same location as paper price labels appeared and provided Kroger with the
opportunity to exhibit ingredients, nutritional information, dietary information and ratings
about specific products on shelves.
The system could identify specific customers when they walked near specific products and then
provide them with personalized offers that appeared on their smart phones. The company also
planned to use Kroger Edge to sell digital advertising to consumer-packaged goods companies
that generates new revenues. Furthermore, Kroger Edge would also be utilized to assist with
the fulfillment of curbside pickup orders and quickly identify stock-outs. 36
In 2018, the partnership with Instacart added approximately 50 percent more coverage and
offered delivery services from 1,600 Kroger stores. 37 Kroger also introduced a new apparel
brand named Dip. The brand, exclusive to Kroger and designed by Joe Mimran, included men’s,
women’s, juniors, kids and baby collections. 38
Despite all of this success, many investors were highly critical of Restock Kroger. Most were
skeptical that the company could generate $400 million in operating income by next year.
“Despite the company’s best efforts, we see (first-quarter earnings) coming in under consensus
and we see little chance of the company achieving its 2020 EBIT (earnings before interest and
taxes) target. As such, we are strongly reiterating our underperform rating. Couple all this with
Kroger’s lofty long-term EBIT targets relying largely on alternative revenues (essentially ad
revenues which are driven mainly by volume growth), and the company seems to be in for a
rough ride this year.” 39
In the fourth quarter of 2018, Kroger announced a drop of 9.5 percent in total revenues to
$28.1 billion. Kroger shares were also down 17 percent since June 2017.40 The stock was
underperforming many other major retail stocks such as Walmart and Target as shown in
Exhibit 10. One bright spot was a 58 percent increase in digital sales that supported its heavy
emphasis on technology investment.41
Overall, McMullen was pleased with the milestones that Kroger reached in just a short time. He
stated, “We are on target for our Restock Kroger goals. We’re incredibly confident about our
future.” 42
10Exhibit 1: Kroger Financial Statements
11Exhibit 1: Kroger Balance Sheet (Continued)
12Exhibit 1: Kroger Balance Sheet (Continued)
13Exhibit 2: Quarterly Sales Growth: Kroger vs. Competitors
14Exhibit 3: Retail E-Commerce Sales of Major Product Categories by Share
15Exhibit 4: Retail E-Commerce Sales by Country 2018 and 2023
16Exhibit 5: Factors Reducing Customer Adoption of Digital Purchases of Grocery Products
17Exhibit 6: Customer Usage of Grocery Fulfillments Methods
18Exhibit 7: List of Customers of Instacart
19Exhibit 8: Restock Kroger
20Exhibit 9: Path to $400 Operating Profit
21Exhibit 10: Stock Performance of Kroger versus Walmart and Target from 2017-2019
22References:
2
Q4 2018 Earnings Call, William McMullen, Chairman and Chief Executive Office of Kroger
3
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
4
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
5
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpearson/2018/09/24/5-ways-krogers-investment-in-tech-and-experience-
will-change-all-grocery/#79604ce03d07
6
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpearson/2018/09/24/5-ways-krogers-investment-in-tech-and-experience-
will-change-all-grocery/#79604ce03d07
7
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
8
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9
https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-biggest-supermarket-company-struggles-with-online-grocery-
upheaval-11555877123?mod=hp_lead_pos4
10
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
11
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
12
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
13
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14
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
15
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16
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
17
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18
“6th Annual Food and Beverage Consumables Study,” TABS Analytics, Conducted by Kanter TNS, October 17,
2018.
19
“2018 U.S. Online Grocery Shopper Study,” The Retail Feedback Group.
20
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
21
“U.S. Grocery E-Commerce” E-Marketer Report, 2019.
22
https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/13119-kroger-teams-with-microsoft-on-digital-grocery-stores
23
https://jilt.com/upsell/brandless-branding/
24
https://www.cbinsights.com/research/instacart-retailer-grocer-partners/
25
https://www.supermarketnews.com/online-retail/retailers-jostle-lead-online-grocery
26
https://www.supermarketnews.com/online-retail/retailers-jostle-lead-online-grocery
27
“Kroger Outlines Plan to Redefine the Way America Eats and to Deliver Value for Customers & Shareholders”
(Kroger Press Release, Oct. 2017)
28
“Kroger Outlines Plan to Redefine the Way America Eats and to Deliver Value for Customers & Shareholders”
(Kroger Press Release, Oct. 2017)
29
“Kroger Outlines Plan to Redefine the Way America Eats and to Deliver Value for Customers & Shareholders”
(Kroger Press Release, Oct. 2017)
30
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomdavenport/2018/04/02/84-51-builds-a-machine-learning-machine-for-
kroger/#5f4e75f64e12
31
“Kroger Outlines Plan to Redefine the Way America Eats and to Deliver Value for Customers & Shareholders”
(Kroger Press Release, Oct. 2017)
32
“Kroger Outlines Plan to Redefine the Way America Eats and to Deliver Value for Customers & Shareholders”
(Kroger Press Release, Oct. 2017)
33
https://risnews.com/why-kroger-struggles-make-money-digital
https://www.daytondailynews.com/business/major-moves-kroger
34
made2018/NgFPhi1yVvEMdFVGcg0QCI/
35
https://www.daytondailynews.com/business/major-moves-kroger-
made2018/NgFPhi1yVvEMdFVGcg0QCI/
36
https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/13119-kroger-teams-with-microsoft-on-digital-grocery-
stores
23https://www.daytondailynews.com/business/major-moves-kroger-
37
made2018/NgFPhi1yVvEMdFVGcg0QCI/
https://www.daytondailynews.com/business/major-moves-kroger-
38
made2018/NgFPhi1yVvEMdFVGcg0QCI/
39
https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/04/03/kroger-analyst-is-dubious-about-
supermarket-giant.html
40
https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-biggest-supermarket-company-struggles-with-online-grocery-upheaval-
11555877123
41
https://www.kantarretailiq.com/Conversation/ConversationDetails.aspx?id=1517720
42
https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/04/03/kroger-analyst-is-dubious-about-
supermarket-giant.html
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