groceries
Latest
Sam’s Club expands same-day grocery delivery through Instacart
Sam's Club, Walmart's members-only warehouse stores, will start offering same-day grocery delivery at half of its US locations by the end of October. The service will expand this month to more than 100 Sam's Club locations, serving nearly 1,000 zip codes.
Walmart will use blockchain to ensure the safety of leafy greens
Walmart is anxious about the safety of its food following bacterial outbreaks for lettuce and other food, and it's hoping technology will set shoppers' minds at ease. It's telling its leafy green suppliers to use a blockchain system (designed with IBM's help) to track the shipments of their produce. The secure, distributed ledger will help trace the vegetables' path from the farm to the store, revealing the source of any potential outbreak in seconds instead of days. This isn't just for Walmart's internal benefit, either. Eventually, you could scan a bag and use the blockchain to find out where your spinach came from.
Kroger starts testing self-driving grocery delivery in Arizona
You now have a chance to try Kroger's self-driving grocery delivery... if you happen to live in the right part of Arizona. The chain has launched its driverless delivery pilot at a single Fry's Food Stores location in Scottsdale, giving you a chance to receive foodstuffs courtesy of Nuro's autonomous vehicles. Order through the Fry's website or app and the robotic courier can deliver either the same day or next day for a $6 flat fee. You'll have to live in the same 85257 ZIP code, so you can't make them drive across town just to satisfy your curiosity.
Amazon cuts Whole Foods pickup time to 30 minutes
It's not quite as efficient as a drive-through, but Amazon's Whole Foods delivery service is well on its way there. Today, the e-commerce company announced that Prime Now subscribers in the US will be able to collect their groceries from Whole Foods within a 30 minute timespan, without ever leaving their vehicle.
Kroger offers free grocery delivery for orders over $35
Today, the popular grocery chain Kroger announced a new service called Kroger Ship, which provides fast and free grocery delivery for orders above $35. For orders under that price, the fee is $5. The program is launching first in Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville and Nashville, and there are plans to expand it over the next few months.
Instacart gets grocery delivery help from Postmates at busy times
What do you do if your internet-based grocery delivery service is straining to keep up with demand at its busiest periods? Why, ask another delivery service for help, of course. Instacart is launching a pilot program in San Francisco that will have Postmates deliver some groceries at peak hours (late morning and early afternoon) to keep up with demand. If you ask Instacart's Michelle McRae, it's a perfect match -- Postmates is normally quieter at those times, so it gets additional business while helping Instacart cope with a heavy workload.
Amazon brings Whole Foods delivery to Chicago and four more cities
Amazon's Whole Foods delivery service still covers a relatively small area, but it's seemingly growing by the moment. The internet giant has expanded the Prime-based grocery deliveries to Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and San Antonio, theoretically giving millions extra-quick access to produce, meat, everyday food and "select" alcohol. As before, delivery is available between 8AM and 10PM and shouldn't cost extra if you're ordering at least $35. You can spend $8 if you need your food within an hour.
Amazon brings Prime discounts at Whole Foods to 10 more states
Amazon's marketing modus operandi is to convince everyone to sign up to its $119 annual Prime Membership, and it's using that strategy to the max with its Whole Foods acquisition. The organic grocery chain is offering discounts to Prime members in ten more states, bringing the total to 23, nearly half the union. Henceforth, denizens of Arizona, Hawaii, and Washington and seven other states can get yellowfin tuna for $9 off per pound, or two Annie's Natural Macaroni & Cheeses for the price of one, instead of paying full price like non-Prime rabble.
Target expands curbside pickup and same-day delivery services
Target is determined to win over shoppers in a hurry -- the retail giant is expanding its Drive Up curbside pickup and Shipt same-day delivery services across the US Midwest and Southeast. As of this week, you can use Shipt to receive groceries, electronics and other items in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin. Drive Up, meanwhile, is coming to Des Monies, Kansas City, Madison, Omaha, Raleigh, Nashville and Columbia.
DoorDash will deliver groceries from Walmart in Atlanta
Walmart's latest tech trick is delivering groceries via DoorDash. Except instead of this being a Walmart offering, it's actually being led by DoorDash according to TechCrunch. End users shouldn't notice a difference, however. Logging on to the Walmart website, you can place an order, choose delivery and then your bread and produce will show up at your door. And only then will you discover it was DoorDash, not the store itself making the delivery. The pilot program is live in Atlanta currently, with no word on if or when there will be an expansion.
Amazon expands Whole Foods delivery to Atlanta and San Francisco
Last month, Amazon launched its Whole Foods delivery service, allowing Prime members in some Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia Beach neighborhoods to order Whole Foods groceries through Prime Now and have them delivered within two hours. Today, Amazon announced that the service has expanded to select areas of Atlanta and San Francisco. Customers in those regions can order produce, bakery items, dairy, meat, seafood, flowers and everyday staples through Prime Now. San Francisco customers can also order alcohol through the service.
Walmart offers same-day delivery from Sam's Club through Instacart
To combat Amazon's two-hour PrimeNow Whole Foods deliveries, Walmart is adding a similar feature for its members-only warehouse chain, Sam's Club. Through a partnership with Instacart, customers can order food and other goods from the bulk outlet and get them delivered on the same day.
Kroger is the next grocery chain hoping to cut checkout lines
It's not just tech giants like Amazon or corporate behemoths like Walmart that are hoping to reduce the need for checkout lines. Kroger is expanding its Scan, Bag, Go self-checkout technology from a handful of stores in the Cincinnati area (which have been testing it for 5 years) to 400 stores in 2018. The system is mostlysimilar to Walmart's approach: you scan items as you add them to your cart throughout the store, letting you breeze through the self-checkout terminal once you've paid through your goods (in this case, at the terminal itself). It's not certain which stores will receive the tech, but an announcement is expected in early 2018.
One of Tesla's first Semi truck buyers is a Canadian grocery chain
Tesla only just unveiled its Semi electric truck, but it's already lining up honest-to-goodness customers -- and we don't just mean for testing, either. Canadian grocery chain Loblaws has pre-ordered 25 of the giant EVs to haul food to its stores across the country. That's a larger purchase than Walmart (which ordered 15 for its test), and no small commitment when Tesla hasn't even revealed the (likely high) price. It may seem odd for Tesla to score one of its most important orders beyond the US, but it makes more sense knowing Loblaws' strategy.
Walmart’s online grocery shopping service will now accept EBT
The Amazon and Walmart rivalry continues as the latter announced today that its Online Grocery Pickup option will now be available to those using Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) credits. In June, Amazon reduced its Prime subscription cost for users receiving government assistance through EBT and earlier this year, the US Department of Agriculture cleared a pilot program that allowed Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program enrollees to use their benefits for online grocery services like AmazonFresh.
Ocado’s Alexa skill lets you call out your shopping list
With Amazon now a major player in the UK grocery market, supermarkets have been forced to adapt or risk losing some of that all important market share. Some have mimicked their rival by offering one-hour deliveries, while others have attempted to match the online retailer's technological prowess. Already a pioneer of grocery-sorting robots and autonomous deliveries, Ocado has stepped things up a notch, today becoming the first UK supermarket to launch a dedicated Amazon Alexa skill.
Whole Foods is already hawking Amazon Echo speakers
Amazon isn't wasting any time now that its Whole Foods acquisition has gone through. Sure enough, visitors to Whole Foods stores have noticed that the grocery stores are already pitching discounted Echo speakers ($100 for the regular model, and $45 for the Dot) at very prominent stands. They're "farm fresh," according to the displays -- as if you'd find them growing in a field next to the carrots. It's a pretty shameless plug, although one you could have seen coming. Amazon craves retail space, and Whole Foods' abundance of stores (470 across North America and the UK) gives it plenty of opportunities to hawk its hardware.
FTC gives Amazon's Whole Foods acquisition the go-ahead
Amazon just got much closer to completing its purchase of Whole Foods. The Federal Trade Commission has decided against further pursuing an investigation into the $13.7 billion deal, arguing that there's no evidence the mega-merger "substantially lessened" the competitive landscape. The FTC won't rule out the possibility of an investigation if Amazon exhibits shady behavior down the line, but the internet retailer is otherwise in the clear.
Walmart takes on Amazon's grocery pickups with automated kiosks
Walmart isn't letting up in its quest to one-up Amazon whenever possible, especially when it comes to in-person pickups. The retailer is testing a kiosk in Oklahoma City that lets you pick up your online groceries at any time of the day or week. Instead of parking and waiting for a staffer to bring out your food, you enter a pickup code and wait for the kiosk to automatically fetch the order from bins inside. You need to spend at least $30 and order during store hours, but there are no special fees or other limitations. If you can't fetch your groceries until 3AM on Sunday, you're fine.
M&S to trial online grocery deliveries
As the UK online food delivery market continues to grow, some big name businesses are worrying that they're missing out. Amazon finally threw its hat in the ring almost a year ago and now Marks and Spencer (M&S) has announced it's preparing sell groceries online from this autumn. According to CEO Steve Rowe, online groceries didn't make financial sense for the company in the past, mainly because customers don't spend enough on food to make the service profitable. However, M&S now says it can no longer ignore one of the fastest growing areas of the UK grocery market.
