Moving above and beyond the game-changing Whole Foods acquisition from 2017, Amazon is considering creation of a new hybrid grocery chain that would combine aspects of a pickup and delivery operation with a smaller retail space for shopping fresh items, according to a report in the New York Times.
Israeli firm CommonSense Robotics is building what it says is the world’s first underground automated fulfillment operation for grocery delivery, anticipating a future where facilities like this will occupy abandoned urban spaces above and below ground to fulfill one-hour deliveries for city dwellers.
In the never-ending quest for delivery immediacy, grocer Kroger is testing out 30-minute deliveries in its home market of Cincinnati, cutting the promised time from Amazon’s Prime Now in half. Called Kroger Rush, the service costs $5.95 per order, with the first order free, and requires an app download.
After weeks of concentrating its fire on Amazon, Walmart is now dealing with a flank action from Target as the latter has fully integrated its Shipt same-day delivery service with Target.com. Walmart, for its part, just launched a $98 per year subscription program for same-day grocery delivery, a service that normally costs $9.95 per order.
Demand from e-grocery and meal kit sales will lead to development of 70 million-100 million sf of cold storage space over the next five years, up from 214 million square feet, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE. The 18-29 year old age group is the fastest growing in terms of e-grocery activity.
While retailers pursue same-day delivery, grocers often complete and ship orders in an hour, while restaurants get even less time. Merchants in food delivery thus have to make instant decisions about the legitimacy of a purchase or risk upsetting their customers. The trick is implementing fraud prevention without ruining the experience.
Two months after dropping out of the Google Shopping Actions platform and the Google Express same-day delivery service after a year-long test, Walmart is adding Google’s voice ordering capability for online groceries as it continues to wage war with Amazon.
While Amazon dominates ecommerce overall, accounting for roughly half of all online consumer sales according to some estimates, it is not out in front in the grocery wars as competitors like Walmart and Target with more physical assets are winning in curbside pickup.
The Feb. 5 fire that completely gutted an automated Ocado grocery fulfillment center in the UK was caused by a failure in an “ambient grid” storing food at room temperature, raising concerns about what happens in these types of facilities when disaster strikes, according to a Bloomberg report.
Walmart and Deliv have decided to part ways, and the major retailer is still working with seven other delivery services to get grocery orders to customers, Reuters and others are reporting. Walmart has signed on four new delivery partners since January, including Deliv competitors Doordash and Postmates.