Kroger Is Making These Changes to Deliveries, Starting Today

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Ordering groceries has never been easier than it is today. You can now save the time it would take to drive to the store and wander the aisles to check things off your shopping list. Instead, most grocers offer multiple options to get your purchases straight to you, and many are finding new ways to enhance delivery options. As of today, Kroger is making changes to its delivery services, including what you’re able to order. Read on to find out about the latest upgrade.

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Kroger began testing out home deliveries with Uber back in 2017. But now, more than five years later, the grocery giant has finally announced a solidified partnership with the tech company.

“Uber Eats helps to make life a little more effortless, and we’re happy to be working with the Kroger Family of Stores across the country to save time for what matters most—friends, family and loved ones,” Christian Freese , Uber’s head of grocery and retail across the U.S. and Canada, said in a statement.

Best Life reached out to Kroger to get more information on this partnership, but has not yet heard back.

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One of the changes coming along with this new partnership is on-demand floral delivery. Starting today, “customers can conveniently order premium Bloom Haus floral bouquets” from Kroger stores on Uber Eats. The bouquets can be ordered directly from more than 1,400 Kroger and Kroger-owned grocers, and will come custom wrapped.

“The new delivery option is another way the Kroger enterprise is bringing convenience and value directly to customers’ doorsteps,” the grocer said in its press release. “All orders placed on Uber Eats will be prepared and packed with care in Kroger’s Family of Stores, with delivery facilitated by Uber Eats directly to customers’ homes.”

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This isn’t the only change being made to deliveries through this partnership. Starting May 4, customers will also be able to order their favorite sushi from Kroger through the Uber Eats marketplace. The “freshly prepared sushi” will be available at all locations as well, and the options include “rolls and combos, dumplings, poke bowls, bottled sauces and more,” according to the company.

“Kroger continues to bring customers additional ways to enjoy their favorite fresh products with zero compromise on convenience or value,” Stuart Aitken , senior vice president chief merchant and marketing officer for Kroger, said in a statement. “Now with Uber Eats, our customers have more options to quickly and easily order a California Crunch Roll for dinner tonight or send a fresh, premium floral bouquet just to say, ‘I’m thinking about you.’”

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To celebrate the partnership between Kroger and Uber Eats, you may be able to get sushi or flowers delivered at a discount over the next two months. The company is offering special promotions on some of these products for eligible customers through June 30.

“The Bloom Haus floral bouquets and sushi selections will be available on UberOne, Uber Eats’ membership program where discounted delivery and service fees will be applied at checkout,” Kroger explained in its press release.

Kroger also shared discount codes for flower and sushi orders from participating locations. The details of those promotions are listed in the press release.

1. Source: https://ir.kroger.com/CorporateProfile/press-releases/press-release/2023/Kroger-Expands-On-Demand-Floral-and-Sushi-Delivery-to-Uber-Eats-Across-Family-of-Companies/default.aspx

Kroger Is Getting Rid of Its Beloved Weekly Ad Insert, Starting Next Month

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We’re all hunting for the best prices at the grocery store —especially these days. Maybe you’ve swapped out name-brand products for generic ones, or perhaps you’re no longer tossing impulse buys into your cart. But seasoned Kroger shoppers know which items are the best buys before they even get to the store, as deals and sales are spelled out in the store’s familiar weekly ad insert. Customers have relied on receiving these ads at home for years, but this will no longer be the case for many shoppers next month, as Kroger just announced it’s no longer mailing out weekly ads or including them in newspapers in certain markets. Read on to find out more about Kroger’s move to digital only.

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Some of us hold steadfast to print media, maintaining our daily newspaper subscriptions. There’s something comforting about holding the paper in your hand while sipping your morning coffee—and it’s also a convenient way to learn about different sales you don’t want to miss.

Kroger has long sent out its ads in local newspapers or directly to your home, but customers in certain parts of Michigan, Indiana, Mississippi, and Oregon will no longer find these inserts in the mail after May.

Different news outlets report that Kroger is getting rid of paper ads and switching over to digital. Some shoppers in Michigan were informed of the change in the weekly ad for April 19 through 25, which announced, “Your weekly ad is going digital ,” the Detroit Free Press reported.

“Beginning May 28, we’ll no longer deliver printed weekly ads to your home,” the ad sent out in Michigan reads.

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For those who still want the print ad, you can pick up a copy in-store or call Kroger’s hotline at 800-576-4377 to arrange for an ad to be sent to you directly, the Detroit Free Press reported. But in the latest ad, Kroger directs customers to go digital by scanning a quick response (QR) code.

You can access the weekly ad on Kroger’s website or through the app, and once you create an account, you can download “exclusive digital coupons and much more,” the most recent print ad states.

“ Kroger is joining many retailers in shifting the way our weekly ads are distributed,” a company spokesperson told Best Life . “Printed copies will still be available in our stores for customers to peruse. Customers can also view our ads in the Kroger mobile app or at Kroger.com when they are planning their weekly grocery trips.”

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The Detroit Free Press noted that some delivery areas in Michigan haven’t received a print ad in quite a while, but customers who just learned of the change aren’t happy about it.

“I like looking through the circular and planning my weekly shopping from it,” Sharon Broshear of Brownstown, Michigan, told the newspaper. “I go through it and mark what’s on sale and decide whether it’s a good price.”

In addition, Kroger shoppers expressed concerns about access for seniors, who may not be comfortable going online or navigating the store’s app. Others said the digital approach could be tricky for people without access to the internet or smartphones.

“While I don’t mind because I can view the ad online, I do think that it would affect those customers who aren’t comfortable accessing the information online (elderly, those without internet, etc.),” Jolyn Felten , administrator and owner of the Bargains to Bounty Facebook page, told the Detroit Free Press . “I know paper ads are available in the store, but it isn’t the same.”

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In a statement to the Detroit Free Press , Kroger said that it’s discontinuing ad deliveries in some areas while the company “continues to create a simple, convenient grocery shopping experience.” But like many other retailers, Kroger is also going digital to cut costs.

“Kroger has been conducting research for over two years to better understand the changing media consumption habits of our customers, the contribution to sales provided by the printed weekly circular and negative impact to our distribution costs driven by increasing labor and fuel costs,” the company told The Columbus Dispatch about its decision to discontinue print ads.

As Sylvain Perrier , CEO and president of e-commerce solutions company Mercatus, told Grocery Dive, Kroger’s move isn’t all that surprising.

“I think it’s known in the industry, typically, direct cost to producing a flyer normally represents 50 percent of the total marketing budget,” Perrier said in an interview with the outlet. “So that’s printing cost, development and distribution with a very difficult to near impossible way to measure the return on the investment.”