Kroger launches online shopping service in Virginia

For some Kroger customers in the Richmond-area, grocery shopping is now a click away.

The Cincinnati-based grocery chain has officially launched its ClickList service at the Kroger Marketplace store in Chester. The service allows customers to shop for groceries online and pickup them up onsite without getting out of their cars.
               

This development marks the first time ClickList has been offered on the East Coast, but that situation will change soon. Next month, Kroger is launching ClickList at 3970 Valley Gateway Blvd. store in Roanoke County. By the end of the year, Kroger plans to provide the service in eight Richmond-area stores plus others in the Roanoke, Charlottesville and Hampton Roads regions. Each new store offering ClickList adds 20 to 25 employees, the company says.

“It’s a big focus for the entire company; it’s something they’re looking to expand,” Kroger spokeswoman Anne Jenkins says about the service, which she adds was prompted by customers’ needs.

Erica Billingslea is one of the Kroger customers looking forward to ClickList’s expansion. She drove from downtown Richmond on Thursday to use the service for the first time and says she would “definitely” try it again.

“To me, it’s easier to just come during my lunch hour as opposed to having another responsibility once I get off the clock,” she says.
 

Chester’s Kroger Marketplace ClickList service had a soft launch last Thursday. Since then more than 100 orders have been completed, says Jason Talerico, the company’s e-commerce field specialist.

Jenkins says that, in all its stores, the number of customers using ClickList is small, but growing.

Customers can use ClickList by logging into Kroger.com/onlineshopping; selecting from 40,000 items and choosing a pick-up time. After an order is placed, a Kroger employee fills the order and stores the groceries in temperature-appropriate zones until they  are ready for pickup.

When customers arrive at the store, they park in a designated “ClickList” spots. Kroger employees then load the groceries into the cars. Kroger charges a $4.95 fee to use the service. Orders on hot foods, prescriptions, alcohol, tobacco, gift cards and apparel are not allowed. Kroger also is working to add same-day pickup and online payments to the service, features which currently are not available. 

The Kroger Marketplace in Chester is Kroger’s 44th location offering ClickList. The service already has been rolled out in Cincinnati; Nashville and Knoxville, Tenn; Lexington and Louisville, Ky.; Indianapolis and Detroit.