Kroger and Walgreens Team Up for Pickup
A Kroger/Walgreen hybrid is an obvious use of the capabilities provided by Ocado. A robotic fulfillment center could obviously support both Kroger supermarkets and Walgreen drugstores.
Moreover, a Walgreen drugstore is a logical addition to the 2,782 supermarkets Kroger operates. In addition, Kroger food brands like Simple Truth will be a logical addition to Walgreens inventory.
Importantly, Kroger operates 37 food manufacturing facilities across the United States. Therefore, Kroger offers Walgreens a source of low-priced food products to counter Amazon’s discounting.
Equally important is Kroger’s ability to provide hot takeout meals, meal kits, deli foods, and hot entrees to Walgreen. Markedly, Kroger has a good relationship with the delivery specialist Instacart.
Additionally, an obvious use for Instacart is delivery of Walgreens prescriptions. America’s growing legion of senior citizens will be obvious customers for prescription delivery.