Food 4 Less goes live with Instacart delivery

The Kroger Co.’s Food 4 Less discount grocery division has launched online grocery delivery through Instacart.

Los Angeles-based Food 4 Less said the same-day home delivery service, which kicked off on Friday, is available at all 129 of its price-impact, warehouse-format supermarkets under the Food 4 Less banner in Southern California, Illinois and Indiana and the Foods Co banner in Central and Northern California.

"We strive to provide our customers with the best shopping experience and believe that offering home delivery adds a new convenience when shopping at Food 4 Less," Bryan Kaltenbach, president of Food4Less and Foods Co, said in a statement. "Our customers are busier than ever. Providing home delivery is another way Food 4 Less is giving our customers the shopping experience that they desire."

To make a home delivery order, customers go online to Food4Less.com or FoodsCo.com and click on the "Delivery" tab at the top of the home page. After choosing their local store, they can shop from a selection of 40,000 products, including fresh foods and other perishables, which are categorized and sorted for easy viewing and selection. Upon filling their virtual cart, shoppers select a preferred delivery time between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Instacart personal shoppers then hand-pick, bag and deliver the groceries within the designated one-hour time window.

Related:Kroger plans major expansion with Instacart

In addition, customers also can place delivery orders at Instacart.com/Food4Less and Instacart.com/FoodsCo or via the Instacart app.

"Instacart is proud to partner with Food 4 Less to offer same-day delivery to customers across California, Illinois and Indiana," commented Sarah Mastrorocco, vice president of business development for Instacart. "Together, Instacart and Food 4 Less are working to make grocery shopping effortless for today's busy consumers and families by delivering the Food 4 Less groceries they want and need straight to their door in as fast as an hour."

The launch of Instacart service at Food 4 Less/Foods Co continues The Kroger Co.’s expansion with the San Francisco-based delivery specialist. Late last August, Kroger and Instacart unveiled plans to extend their household reach by 50%, bringing same-day delivery to 1,600 stores overall through the fall.

Kroger also has developed its own grocery delivery services in the face of rising e-commerce competition from Amazon/Whole Foods, Walmart and Target/Shipt, among others.

Last month, Kroger said it has been testing 30-minute grocery delivery in the Cincinnati area. Called Kroger Rush, the service is being piloting with select customers, who can order quickly needed items like lunch or dinner online and have them delivered within 30 minutes. And last August, Kroger launched its own delivery service called Ship, a direct-to-customer platform that enables consumers to order from a selection of groceries at ship.kroger.com and have them delivered to their door. The retailer also is testing grocery delivery via Nuro driverless vehicles in Houston, which followed the completion of a pilot in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Related:Kroger turns in mixed results, but online delivery growing

In a conference call on fiscal 2019 first-quarter results, Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said the company is “assembling a platform to deliver anything, anytime, anywhere.” Thus far, the company has expanded online grocery delivery to 2,126 stores and pickup to 1,685 stores as of the close of the first quarter, covering over 93% of the households in its market area. Kroger has said it expects to reach 100% of the country by the end of 2019 with the full integration of Kroger Ship.