The Kroger Co. has announced updates to its ecommerce plan that it said it expects to improve operating profit by about $400 million in 2026, in part by targeting fulfillment efficiency.
The updates, it said, would result in an improved customer experience, new households shopping at Kroger, as well as immediate ecommerce profitability improvements. Additionally, Kroger said the updates to its ecommerce plan will “improve the customer experience through lower prices and better store conditions while also improving operating margins.”
Part of Kroger’s updated plan revolves around ecommerce order fulfillment. There, Kroger is expanding its relationships with Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats. The grocer said doing so will help it reach new customers in as little as 30 minutes.
Ultimately, Kroger assessed that its “flexible, hybrid [fulfillment] network balances an expanded store footprint, third-party delivery, and automation.”
Kroger referred to these “hybrid ecommerce offerings” as accelerants for its online sales growth. It will use its growing number of stores and its established third-party delivery partners, as well as automated fulfillment facilities.
Kroger ranks No. 6 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database. The database ranks North America’s largest online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales and more. Furthermore, Kroger is No. 1 in the database’s Food & Beverage category, though it competes with Mass Merchants — Walmart and Target — that rank higher in the Top 2000 for online grocery sales.
How Kroger is reshaping its ecommerce fulfillment
“Ecommerce remains a core part of serving customers who want better value, wide selection and flexible ways to shop,” said Ron Sargent, Kroger’s chairman and CEO, in a statement. “We are building on a strong foundation with five consecutive quarters of double-digit ecommerce sales growth and increased profitability improvements. We are taking decisive action to make shopping easier, offer faster delivery times, provide more options to our customers, and we expect to deliver profitable sales growth as a result.”
In early November, Kroger and Instacart expanded their partnership to include agentic artificial intelligence (AI) options. The retailer also said the expanded relationship “reaffirms” Instacart as its “primary delivery fulfillment partner” for consumers using Kroger.com and its mobile app.
About a month prior, it added its more than 2,600 grocery stores to DoorDash’s delivery platform. The Kroger-DoorDash partnership expanded the retailer’s grocery delivery offerings, which it had already committed billions of dollars to through robotic ecommerce fulfillment centers.
Beginning early 2026, Kroger will also join the Uber Eats marketplace.
Yael Cosset, executive vice president and chief digital officer at Kroger, said the ability to deliver food and groceries in as little as 30 minutes is a “winning model” for the retailer and its consumers.
“Our differentiated approach, combining the proximity of our stores with high-capacity automation, the wide assortment of the fresh food they love, allows us to fulfill more trips for the families we serve,” Cosset said in a statement.
Kroger also said that, “following a comprehensive review,” it can optimize its fulfillment network by closing facilities in Florida, Maryland and Wisconsin in January, “while monitoring the remaining facilities’ performance.”
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