Kroger adds choice to online wine delivery

The Kroger Co. is letting shoppers customize wine packs as it expands availability of its Kroger Wine delivery service.

The grocery titan is partnering with Drinks, provider of an omnichannel ship-to-home solution it calls a “wine-as-a-service” platform, to launch a new “build-your-own-pack” feature for Kroger Wine. Shoppers now have the option to customize their delivery packs by selecting each individual wine from a selection of more than 45 wines. 

Kroger initially introduced Kroger Wine in 14 states in late 2018. Earlier in 2019, the program expanded to customers in Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. In November, Kroger expanded the program to Arizona. The service is now available in 19 states and Washington, D.C., representing 58 million households both inside and outside Kroger's brick-and-mortar footprint of nearly 2,800 retail stores. 

To purchase, shoppers visit wine.kroger.com. After confirming their delivery state and legal drinking age, they can search a curated wine assortment and create a custom pack, or join the quarterly membership club. Wines range in price from $10-$16 per bottle, with no additional shipping fees for home delivery.

"Kroger is continuously broadening how customers can engage with us no matter what their needs are. Our mission is to serve our customers anything, anytime, anywhere, and Kroger Wine represents an additional way our customers can shop with us," said Jody Kalmbach, Kroger's group VP of product experience. "With the new 'build-your-own pack' feature, Kroger has brought its industry-leading convenience and personalization to the online wine-buying experience and expanded our leadership in the wine category."

Grocery retailers have increasingly been introducing online alcohol delivery offerings. In June 2019, Sam’s Club launched one-hour delivery of alcohol at select stores via partnership with Instacart. Since that time, retailers including Aldi, Walmart and BJ’s have also added on-demand alcohol delivery to their omnichannel grocery offerings.