TO CLOSE

ClickList is Kroger's online order-pick-at-the-store service. Currently, Kroger owns ClickList at 36 stores in the Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio area, and plans to add 30 by the end of 2017.
The Enquirer / Cara Owsley

Buy a photo

Katie Lindsay, left, is preparing to pick up lawyers in Kroger, Oakley, on Tuesday, August 22, 2018. (Photo: Albert Cesare / The Enquirer,)Buy a photo

Kroger is making progress as part of a fierce new competition from Amazon, but its commercial results have disappointed Wall Street Thursday, which has juggled with many strategic initiatives.

Kroger shares fell to $ 28.30, down $ 3.43 or 10.8%.

"We are only two-quarters in our three-year Restock Kroger plan, and we are making solid progress," said CEO Rodney McMullen. "Kroger's customers have more resources than ever before the availability of Instacart, the successful ClickList offer, and the sale of Simple Truth in China via Alibaba's Tmall."

Supermarkets scramble to boost digital and home delivery efforts Amazon has plunged into the grocery sector with the takeover in 2017 of Whole Foods.

For the second quarter, Kroger posted a profit of $ 508 million, up 43.9% over the same period last year.

Excluding non-recurring items, Kroger recorded 41 cents of earnings per share, surpassing Wall Street's forecast of 38 cents.

According to Thomson Reuters, total revenue stands at $ 27.9 billion, up 1%, but remains below analysts' estimates of $ 28 billion.

Also below: same store sales with no identical fuel (a tightly monitored sales indicator that excludes the impact of renovations, mergers or acquisitions) grew by 1.6% compared to 1.9% expected by Wall Street .

Under pressure to strengthen its digital efforts, Kroger launched a series of initiatives in 2018 to expand its business and reduce the Amazon threat:

• In August, Kroger announced plans to expand its home delivery partnership with Instacart to cover more than half of its stores across the country.

• Also in August, Kroger announced that an Internet giant's deal, Alibaba, was selling food products in China. In the same month, Kroger announced its direct delivery service to Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville and Houston.

• In June, Kroger announced a pilot project to test the delivery of driverless power products, which is expected to be launched in Phoenix.

• In May, Kroger announced an alliance with the British digital retailer Ocado to create a network of US warehouses to provide digital food deliveries.

Also in 2018, Kroger noted the growing scope of its e-commerce ambitions when it announced in June that it would establish a separate headquarters in Downtown Cincinnati for its digital operations.

For the latest news on Kroger, P & G, Fifth Third Bank and Cincinnati business news, follow @alexcoolidge on Twitter.

Read or share this story: https://cin.ci/2xb9PCA