Kroger growing its omnichannel experience through personalization

CINCINNATI — Kroger is focused on expanding its omnichannel capabilities, the grocer shared Wednesday during an investor presentation. 

 

“What we're trying to do is to build those experiences that create value individually to customers that shop; millions of them shop in our stores every single day,” Kevin Dougherty, group VP digital and Vitacost, Kroger, told analysts. “The aspiration here is if we're able to get this done in the way that we envision it, it really would become very meaningful and it would matter [to the customer].”

 

“Personalization has to come to life in a meaningful way for our customers,” added Matt Thompson, Kroger director digital and e-commerce. “By offering customers more relevant content when we send them digital communications like the ad and digital offers and target to these households, we actually see response rates from the customers that are three to five times what you would see in the industry average,” he said. To date, customers have redeemed 1.5 billion of its load-to-card manufacturer offers over the past five years “We’re seeing customers adapt and really move into this space,” Thompson said. 

 

“Omnichannel capabilities [are] a key part of Kroger's future,” said Ed Kelly, Credit Suisse research analyst, in a note published yesterday. “Kroger … is focused on delivering personalized and relevant content to customers,” he said. “The company continues to learn from Harris Teeter's click-and-collect capability, is testing a rollout in Cincinnati, and plans to ultimately expand across the chain although no timeframe was provided,” he wrote. “Management also highlighted its recent merger with Vitacost as an opportunity to accelerate its understanding and capability in the e-commerce space.