The Houston Business Journal reports that "Kroger launched a new curbside pickup service at several Houston-area stores, joining a bevy of other retailers that have jumped into the convenience game ... Kroger plans to roll out the service to 22 stores by fall 2016."
The Journal goes on: "Kroger joins other area stores that launched their own curbside service. San Antonio-based H-E-B launched its curbside pickup service in Houston in December, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) launched its service in October.
"Aside from pickup service, other on-demand services have launched to satiate Houstonians' thirst for convenience. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) recently launched a delivery service, called Google Express, in Houston that will deliver items from a number of retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Costco, PetSmart. Amazon Prime launched its one-hour delivery service in Houston in October."
The Journal goes on: "Kroger joins other area stores that launched their own curbside service. San Antonio-based H-E-B launched its curbside pickup service in Houston in December, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) launched its service in October.
"Aside from pickup service, other on-demand services have launched to satiate Houstonians' thirst for convenience. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) recently launched a delivery service, called Google Express, in Houston that will deliver items from a number of retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Costco, PetSmart. Amazon Prime launched its one-hour delivery service in Houston in October."
- KC's View:
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Every time I read a story about Kroger's burgeoning e-commerce business, I feel like such a fool for having carped for so long about how slow the company was being on this front. Clearly, it was more a matter of not wanting to shoot from the hip ... but rather come into battle well-armed and fortified, with a coherent and executable strategy that would differentiate the company against the likes of Walmart and Amazon.
