Can Kroger catch Walmart in online grocery delivery?

In an article about online grocery delivery, business news provider Motley Fool asks whether The Kroger Co. will be able to surpass Walmart in online grocery sales in the next two years.

Motley Fool notes that Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart surpassed Seattle-based Amazon last year as the favorite destination for online grocery shoppers, noting that 33% of online shoppers chose Walmart while 31% chose Amazon.

But then there’s Cincinnati-based Kroger, which recently reported its online grocery sales increased 66% in the first quarter, equaling $1.5 billion.

“That launched it past Ahold Delhaize (which operates supermarket chains like Giant and Stop & Shop), which generated online sales of less than $1.2 billion, only a 2.6% increase,” the Motley Fool reported. “At that pace, Kroger could easily surpass Walmart in online grocery sales in less than two years. But can it maintain such torrid growth?”

Motley Fool said Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen told analysts recently that the grocer went from having no online sales at all in 2014 to $5 billion in 2018 and that he expects to trend toward $9 billion going forward. Kroger operates 2,764 supermarkets under its banners.

Click here to read the Motley Fool report.