Altered by Amazon’s (AMZN) foray into the grocery and convenience store business, incumbents like Kroger and Walgreens Boots Alliance had no options but to join hands in order stay ahead of the competition in an evolving consumer landscape.
With Amazon stepping up its grocery and convenience store game in recent times, Kroger and Walgreens announced their partnership in October. Under this partnership, both companies have come up with a new experimental pilot program in which Kroger would sell some of its products inside 13 Walgreens stores at different locations.
Under this unique partnership, Walgreens’ shoppers will soon be able to buy 2,300 Kroger products, including Kroger’s Home Chef meal kits and its organic brand Simple Truth, at 13 test stores in Northern Kentucky, near Kroger’s headquarters in Cincinnati.
Household product declining sales in recent times have hurt pharmacies, while grocers looking for any opportunity that help them stay ahead of the curve. Pharmacies and grocery stores have been searching for ways to beat out the competition, and this is what got these two companies together to stay ahead of the challenge thrown towards them by the Amazon's Whole Foods.
In addition to selling Kroger’s branded products in stores, Walgreens will also allow customers to order online from the grocer and pick up the items at the pharmacy chain.
Owing to early success of this pilot program, both companies announced a further expansion of the program on Tuesday.