Kroger Increases Omnichannel Presence

Pretty significant news in grocery retail.  Kroger has acquired a strong eCommerce player.  This move seems obvious to allow Kroger to acquire a skill-set it was missing.

Here is one article on the news:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/krogers-ecommerce-buy-puts-them-into-the-grocery-delivery-fray/#.U7rAxZRdX9Y

Here is a snippet from that piece:

With the purchase of online Vitamin seller Vitacost.com, supermarket chain Kroger is ready to enter the big leagues of grocery-delivery competition with such marquee players as Google and Amazon.

“(Kroger) now has companies like Google competing against them because I can order the same stuff,” Forrester Research Inc. analyst Adam Silverman told CIO Journal.

Here is another article:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/kroger-augments-mobile-expertise-with-vitacost-buy

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Excellent write-up on the implications of this move:
http://www.progressivegrocer.com/viewpoints-blogs/guest-viewpoints/expert-column-kroger%E2%80%99s-vitacostcom-acquisition-%E2%80%93-what-does-it-mean