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Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

grocerydive.com

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Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#221

Post by rsynnott »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #207
rsynnott wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live literally five minutes walk from a decently sized supermarket, ten minutes from another, and ten minutes on the bus from a great big one. One of my neighbours still gets supermarket delivery. There seems to be some sort of market for it, anyway...

We use Costco delivery at my house because it’s 10-15min each way to go there plus an hour at the place shopping at best (long lines are common). With 2 kids you feel that time especially given how frequently you have to shop for groceries. It’s a more limited selection but there’s plenty to choose from and I’m done picking out my groceries in five minutes. They magically show up at my door for very little extra cost…

> I’m not saying you’re wrong for feeling that way

I mean I'm not feeling any particular way; I don't have a problem with the neighbours using it. I'm somewhat surprised that it makes sense for them, but each to their own. Myself, I just shop on the way home from work (my walk brings me past one of the supermarkets).

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#222

Post by graemep »

simgt wrote: post #212
graemep wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of those shows several cars in the photo and a single bike. The other two show pedestrianised areas, and all three show pedestrians without any indication of how they go there. When I to to similar areas in my town (pop approx 23k) I have drive there, park, and then walk around. I have several shops within easy walking distance and many people (including me) do walk to them, but quite a few drive. Few bikes (kids…

The UK is strange, it's really not bike friendly but you do have rows of small shops outside of city centers and towns have many of them too. France is rather the opposite or simply worse on all aspects in the countryside.

The UK varies a lot. A lot of places are walkable so a mix of public transport (in cities) or car and parking and then walking are common.

I never had a car in London, and would not want to drive in central London. Public transport is faster, less tiring, and while not cheap, is cheaper than running a car.

Living in Cheshire a car is a necessity.

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#223

Post by markus_zhang »

wild_egg wrote: post #86
markus_zhang wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the history of Consumers (thanks, I never knew this existed): >In the 1990s, Consumers Distributing struggled to compete with Zellers and then Walmart Canada. Consumers Distributing sought bankruptcy protection in 1996. And Zellers went under just a few years ago...

Sorry to say but 2013 was more than a few years ago...

Oh I must have some bad memory unit…

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#224

Post by j_w »

iambateman wrote: post #216

I’m regularly surprised by how important physically picking out groceries is for a large segment of the population. We have done grocery pickup for years but the pickup lanes are almost always empty while dozens of shoppers walk into the store. To me, shopping for groceries by hand is a waste of time but it clearly has some utility for a lot of people. I wonder if that inertia is making traditional grocery shopping s…

I like to browse what is there and make decisions on what I'll be eating based on what I see.

Purchasing online feels more narrow and has me thinking more about things I've cooked before vs what I might want to try cooking/eating.

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#225

Post by tstrimple »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #99
rajamaka wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually see people preferring to use the self service in McDonalds or supermarkets when given the option of either, so the consumer must find some benefit to it.

I always choose self service because that's where the volume is. I can wait in one of any Costco lines with 4 carts and 1 person checking them through, or I can wait in the line with 4 carts and 6 self service checkouts. Despite the math working out insanely well for self service checkout, sometimes the gamble still doesn't pay off and the single employee burns through 4 carts faster than 6 self service checkout kios…

I really appreciate the ability at Costco to scan with my phone as we pick up items. Check out becomes a breeze. But I absolutely hate self-checkout grocery stores unless I just have a few items. The idea that I'll run a cart full of groceries through self-checkout is insane. Not only do they routinely not have accurate bar codes requiring some sort of lookup from an attendant. I'll have things which require human clerks to "approve" anyway like wine. In addition, my self-checkout lines don't have the full conveyors like the human checkout lines. So everything has to be moved from cart directly to bag and there isn't enough bag space so you have to start putting bags into the cart which still has groceries. The whole thing is a mess and I hate it.

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#226

Post by graemep »

TechnicalVault wrote: post #146
simgt wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you operating? I live in a dense European city and I don't know a single person who orders groceries online. Smallish shops with bike racks in front of the door are simply too convenient, seems hard to beat. Next few days shopping can easily be done in 15mn on the way back home.

In the London suburbs you see the grocery delivery vans out and about all day every day. It very much depends on the neighbourhood though, mostly the slightly posh mums or elderly ones ordering.

In the UK, but not in London, but my order online sometimes because local shops do not have everything I want, it takes time to drive into town and shop at a supermarket, so when I am busy I order online.

Like a lot of people who work from home there is big difference between the time required to shop, and taking a few minutes away from my desk to get some stuff from the door to the fridge.

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#227

Post by pbalau »

NegativeLatency wrote: post #116
mlrtime wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like it, I order on my phone before I get to the place and just pick it up. Any reason to like the old way is just nostalgia in my head.

There are pros, but ultimately we’re all still apes, we need human interaction and contact. It can’t be completely replaced with technology.

> we need human interaction and contact

Indeed, but not at McDonalds.

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#228

Post by nunez »

Computer0 wrote: post #172
roryirvine wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in inner London. I have multiple grocery shops around me - within 10 minutes' walk I have a fishmonger, two butchers, two delicatessens, three bakeries, three greengrocers, four mid-sized organic/international grocers, six patisseries, a large Lidl, and a very large Sainsbury's supermarket. I visit those local shops once or twice almost every day to pick up fresh bits and pieces - but I still get bulky or heav…

There is a gas station that sells candy and stale jerky, a hard, sidewalk-less 10 minutes walk from me (probably 20). Not sure it would be feasible to go anywhere else. -American

More like 30!

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#229

Post by bena »

taeric wrote: post #213
bena wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything. Retail stores are logistics. And part of that is product flow. There are trucks coming in every single day. When you buy an item at a store, that item is deducted from the store's inventory, when that item's stock reaches a certain threshold, an order is immediately placed to the distribution center, and that item is loaded onto a truck and could arrive as soon as that night. There's no reason to keep any…

Right, I just meant that you have a high chance of seeing the bread and drinks/chips getting delivered. They turn over pretty much daily. I would imagine it is the condiments and other very long shelf stable things that you may not see getting restocked on a daily basis?

Oh, that's not really related to turnover.

Bread/snack cakes (Little Debbie, the bakery also does bread), chips, soda, and liquor/beer are typically handled by vendors. Coca-Cola has a guy come out and stock the Coca-Cola products. Frito-Lay has a guy handle the Frito-Lay products. Etc. They don't work for the store in any capacity.

Vendors typically come during the normal operating hours of the store. Bread guys like to be early in the morning. Chip and soda guys have routes and they'll get to you depending on how the rest of their route goes.

As for other stock, for the grocery side, the distribution center usually palletize stock based on aisle. And the pallets come shrinkwrapped on a truck that arrives at the store between 8 and 10. Someone from the store unloads the pallets from the truck into the warehouse. Once the truck is unloaded, they head back to the distribution center. At the store, the pallets are then staged near their respective aisles and workers restock the shelves overnight.

On the general goods side, the stock is loose in the truck, and a team of people unload the truck and palletize it based on department. Then those pallets are staged in the department for stocking by the overnight crew.

Source: my first job was with WalMart. I worked day stock in a few departments on both the grocery and general goods sides. I worked unloading the trucks on the general goods side. I also worked overnight on the general goods side. I've been involved with a good portion of the store side of the restocking. So all of this information is at least 20 years old, some things may have changed. But I've seen the vendors still while I'm shopping, so the broad strokes likelys till apply.

Re: Kroger acknowledges that its bet on robotics went too far

#230

Post by nunez »

> Speaking during an earnings call, interim Kroger CEO Ron Sargent — who took over in March after McMullen’s sudden departure following an ethics probe — said the company would conduct a “full site-by-site analysis” of the Ocado network.

Sounds like there were some politics involved in the original decision.

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