Kroger

Grocery fulfillment optimization leads to Instacart layoffs

This is an excerpt from Thursday’s Point of Sale retail supply chain newsletter.

Prior to the pandemic, less than 5% of all grocery spending occurred online. The coronavirus prompted millions of Americans to purchase groceries online for the first time, including older generations that had not even been considered potential market participants. Recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 28% of baby boomers and silent generation shoppers increased their online grocery purchases...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/grocery-fulfillment-optimization-leads-to-instacart-layoffs

Instacart slashing workforce, including operation’s only unionized workers

Instacart laying off workers

Instacart is laying off approximately 1,800 employees as it transitions to a “Partner Pick” model for grocery services.

The company made the acknowledgement in a Medium blog post on Tuesday, noting, “we’ll be winding down our in-store operations at select retailer locations over the coming months.” The line was included about two-thirds of the way down in a larger post about the new Instacart Pickup Retailer models.

The layoffs, reported by Bloomberg to be about 1,900 and by CNN Business to be...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/instacart-slashing-workforce-including-operations-only-unionized-workers

Online retailers pay almost double in logistics costs

This is an excerpt from Thursday’s Point of Sale retail supply chain newsletter.

(Chart: Gartner)

Retailers with more than 50% of revenue from the online channel have logistics costs as a percentage of sales that are almost double those of their store-focused counterparts, according to Gartner. 

2020 was a year spent primarily expanding online fulfillment capabilities, but now retail supply chain leaders are now looking for opportunities to control, contain and, where possible, reduce their...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/online-retailers-pay-almost-double-in-logistics-costs

Walmart+ won’t make Amazon quake, but that could be beside the point

Walmart Inc.’s (NYSE:WMT) planned Walmart+ service, which reportedly launches later this month with a $98 annual fee for same-day deliveries of groceries and general merchandise as well as fuel discounts, may not rain on Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) parade. And that may not matter.

The subscription-based initiative, first reported earlier this month by the online publication Recode, would expand a pure e-grocery delivery initiative that Walmart launched late last year. The new service will...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/walmart-wont-make-amazon-quake-but-that-could-be-beside-the-point

+ More