Kroger's QFC Division Launches Home Delivery Service Powered by Instacart

New Partnership to Create Customer Value

News provided by

Dec 04, 2017, 08:15 ET

CINCINNATI and BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- QFC, a division of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), today announced it is offering home delivery at a majority of its stores in both Puget Sound and Portland, through a partnership with Instacart, a nationally-recognized on-demand retail delivery service. The partnership supports two key drivers of the company's Restock Kroger Plan: Expand Partnerships to Create Customer Value and Redefine the Food and Grocery Customer Experience.

"By offering home delivery in addition to in-store shopping and online ordering for curbside pickup, we are listening to our customers who are telling us they want the convenience of shopping anyway they choose," said Suzy Monford, president of QFC. "We know that our customers are busier than ever but still want to feed their families fresh, healthy foods that are available at low prices. This new partnership allows our customers to have their groceries delivered to their doorsteps as soon as two hours after placing an order."

QFC delivery powered by Instacart will be offered in addition to its ClickList store locations that offer online ordering for curbside pickup.

"Instacart customers prefer doing their online grocery shopping from local stores, where they know the products," said Andrew Nodes, Vice President, Retail Accounts for Instacart. "We are thrilled to partner with QFC to give our customers in Portland and Seattle a new convenient option for shopping at their favorite local QFC store."

How does QFC home delivery work?
Customers place their orders through the "Delivery" link at www.qfc.com. The customer enters the zip code where the delivery will be scheduled then chooses from 40,000 offered products, including perishables, which are categorized and sorted for easy viewing and selection. The customer builds a digital cart by clicking and adding products. Once the customer has completed building the online basket, a preferred delivery time between 9 a.m. and midnight can be selected. An Instacart shopper then hand-picks the items and delivers the order within a preferred one-hour time window. The home delivery fee will be waived for first-time customers.

About Instacart
Instacart helps people cross grocery shopping off their to-do lists with just a few clicks. Customers use the Instacart website or app to fill their virtual shopping cart with items from their favorite, local stores and Instacart connects them with shoppers who hand pick the items and deliver them straight to their door. Founded in San Francisco in 2012, Instacart has quickly scaled to over 160 markets and partnered with retailers across North America, including popular national chains as well as local, regional grocers. By combining a personal touch with cutting-edge technology, Instacart offers customers a simple solution to save time and eat fresh food from the most trusted grocery brands. Instacart is the only grocery service that can meet today's on-demand lifestyle by delivering in as little as one hour. First delivery is free at www.instacart.com.

About Kroger
At The Kroger Co., we are dedicated to our purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit^TM. We are 450,000 associates who serve nearly nine million customers daily in 2,793 retail food stores under a variety of local banner names in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Our Family of Companies operates an expanding ClickList offering – a personalized order online service – in addition to 2,258 pharmacies, 783 convenience stores, 307 fine jewelry stores, 222 retail health clinics, 1,472 supermarket fuel centers and 38 food production plants in the United States. Our Company has been recognized as one of America's most generous companies for our support of more than 100 Feeding America food bank partners, breast cancer research and awareness, the military and their families, and more than 145,000 community organizations including schools. As a leader in supplier diversity, we are a proud member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable.

SOURCE The Kroger Co.