Kroger offers sushi, floral delivery through Uber Eats
- Kroger has expanded its partnership with Uber Eats.
- It now offers on-demand delivery of flowers and sushi.
- It’s the latest e-commerce effort by Kroger, which has also this year grown its in-house grocery delivery network.
Kroger has expanded its partnership with Uber Eats, now offering on-demand delivery of sushi and from its floral department.
The grocer in a May 2 release said delivery through the platform for both products would become available to shoppers by May 4. The flower deliveries come from Kroger’s Bloom Haus in-store floral concept, which received that branding in 2017. Deliveries from Bloom Haus are available at more than 1,400 Kroger-owned stores, according to the release.
Kroger says shoppers will be able to order custom-wrapped floral bouquets and sushi freshly prepared in-store, including rolls and combos, dumplings, poke bowls and bottled sauces.
"Finding the freshest, highest-value treats – even for delivery – can be time consuming. This new curated collaboration with Kroger across floral and sushi makes it easier than ever for people to treat themselves and others on-demand," said Christian Freese, Uber's head of grocery and retail in the U.S. and Canada, in the release.
It’s the latest effort by Kroger to expand in the e-commerce grocery market. As Retail Leader previously reported, the grocer, which is the largest supermarket operator in the U.S., has grown its network of e-commerce fulfillment facilities. It’s even expanded e-commerce order fulfillment in areas where it doesn’t have any stores, like in South Florida, where it expanded delivery earlier this year.
While grocers have in many cases shifted from third-party delivery partners on grocery delivery, choosing to offer in-house pick, packand delivery options, third-party partners like Uber Eats, Instacart and DoorDash continue to play a valuable role to grocers and other essential retailers, especially for on-demand orders that require greater delivery speed.
E-commerce in grocery remains immensely popular with consumers, skyrocketing in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, growth in the category has shown signs of a slow down. According to Bricks Meets Clicks, the online grocery market in the U.S. had $8 billion in sales in March, down 7.6% from March 2022. Grocery delivery shrunk by 7.4%, while pickup orders declined a larger 8.5%. Ship-to-home fell by 5.9%, according to the survey.