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Grocery shopping used to be an activity dreaded by many kids. Spending at least an hour of the day walking around a grocery store with our mothers to get all the essentials for the week couldn't get any more boring, and having to wait in long check-out lines was even worse.
Now that those kids have grown into adults, shopping is an entirely different experience, becoming more convenient and easier than ever.
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There's no longer a need to enter a physical store; one can go online, put all the necessary items in a virtual cart, and check out. The best part is that everything can be delivered or picked up when most suitable for our schedules.
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Kroger launched Kroger Ship in 2018, an online shopping and delivery service where customers can buy a broader assortment of products and have them delivered to their homes.
In 2020, the company extended this opportunity to third-party sellers by providing a platform to sell their products. This was a way for Kroger to expand its range and selection of products outside of groceries amid growing competition and evolving consumer needs.
Kroger makes an unexpected decision without prior warning
In theory, Kroger Ship seemed like a good idea, since it would allow the company to better compete with e-commerce giants like Amazon (AMZN) and Alibaba, which also have third-party marketplaces and fast delivery services.
However, Kroger (KR) may not have been able to outdo its competitors because Kroger Ship has been completely shut down and removed from the grocery chain's website without prior warning.
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The company has not issued a statement explaining why it decided to discontinue the service or when it made that decision, but the site no longer worked as of March.
However, Kroger's grocery delivery and order-ahead services are not ending. Customers can still order online through its official website, but they won't be able to purchase or receive shipments from third-party sellers.
Its marketplace venture may not have delivered the expected results, but its digital sales are thriving.
Kroger's digital sales grew by 11% and delivery sales increased by 18% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to last year, excluding the 53rd week in 2023.
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Kroger is known primarily as a brick-and-mortar grocery store chain, with nearly 2,800 stores across 35 states. Because it was newer to online sales, consumers may have been more likely to choose already-reliable Kroger rivals that have dominated the e-commerce game for longer.