US retailer Target is adding hundreds of fresh and frozen items, such as fruits, vegetables and meat, to same-day order pickup and drive up services at 600 additional stores across the US this month, taking the total of participating outlets to over 1,000. Before the holiday season, the retailer is planning to offer the expanded fresh assortment - together with more than 250,000 items already available for pickup - at more than 1,500 locations, corresponding to around 80% of Target’s store base. The service requires no membership or minimum order value.
Target had already been planning pre-covid to add fresh to its same-day services this year, however the initiative gained new urgency as demand for online grocery expanded rapidly, with consumers looking for safer ways to shop. Edge by Ascential Retail Insight expects year-on-year growth of edible grocery online sales in the US to accelerate by 8.8 ppts versus the pre-COVID forecast this year, to 37.5%.
As the competitive bar continues to be pushed up by Amazon, Walmart and the delivery intermediaries such as Instacart, these plus Kroger and Target are reinforcing their dominance in online grocery, defining a group of grocers CPGs should focus their strategic partnerships on to tap into the sector’s growth potential as the market consolidates.
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