Reviewing Grocery Tech Innovations from Walmart and Kroger

Executive Summary

The digitalization of grocery retailing is about much more than e-commerce. In the US, Walmart and Kroger are leading the charge in digital adoption across the grocery supply chain. In this report, we review a number of grocery tech innovations from these two retailers.

• Self-scan and autonomous checkouts are gaining traction, giving customers the option to skip the checkout lines and helping retailers save on labor costs.
• Walmart has launched an upgraded Scan & Go service in its Sam’s Club chain, where customers scan barcodes and pay through a smartphone app. 
• Walmart is working with Waymo to provide pick up and drop service to customers, using self-driving vehicles. Kroger is trialing the use of self-driving vehicles for grocery deliveries, in collaboration with Nuro.
• Walmart and Microsoft announced a five-year cloud partnership to drive digital transformation, supported by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT).
• Kroger has partnered with Ocado to strengthen its e-commerce capabilities. Kroger and Ocado plan to build 20 automated customer fulfillment centres.