Thanks to its initial partnership with Dunnhumby, which also helped launch U.K. grocer Tesco’s Clubcard program, Kroger built out the capacity to gather and mine customer data many years ago. It is still paying dividends to this day and is very effective in activating customers and driving spending. That said, insights only go so far: retailers need to execute on them, and here Kroger deserves credit for its early ambitions in digital. All that said, I wish Kroger would improve the experience at some of its stores. Newer ones are nice, but there are still far too many old and shabby ones in the chain!

Customer data and insights are essential to truly personalize the customer experience. Customer data starts with customer identification and Kroger’s strong loyalty program encourages almost everyone to join the program to receive discounts. Personalized promotions based on what consumers buy are imperative to avoid the shotgun approach of promoting everything to everyone. The retailer with the most data and insights wins!

It would be hard to argue with Kroger’s assertion. It has a long history of putting data at the top of the hierarchy. Kroger’s groundbreaking partnership with Dunnhumby planted the seeds for its ambitious owned data platform and retail media aspirations. Now that the foundation has been laid, Kroger is poised to fully monetize its investments.

For some reason, the CEO’s statement strikes me as funny: “Many retailers have transactional data, but no one has the customer data and the insights that Kroger has.”

Not to be a jerk, but how does he know that?

Further, the company’s earnings compared to Target and Walmart say that a focus on tech investments around product picking and delivery is really in order. So far, it hasn’t really translated.

I’m really happy to see grocers making good use of analytics for personalization online (and I assume in stores), but also look forward to seeing those grocers make operating improvements.

There is no question that the future of retail is going beyond transactional data to true insights. Many retailers can’t do this, and some of those think they can. Exceptional data capabilities may well be the key differentiator going forward.

Kroger is to utilizing their data and insights about their customers as effectively as Walmart has always used its data and insights effectively with their supply chain and logistics. Yes, many have been aware of the perch Kroger has been sitting on for years and have been trying to catch up but no one has with the exception of Amazon.

Also, I agree with Neil, too many shabby stores tends to knock down Kroger from its high horse.

There’s a little company in Seattle called Amazon that would rightly disagree with Mr. McMullen’s assertion. And it’s not even close.

Data + insights + ACTION. Action is the operative word. Investing and implementing. Did Target and Lululemon really have data superior to that of other retailers? Or did they have the vision and fortitude to act and take the short term financial hits that put them in their current leadership positions?

The value of what Kroger is doing is what they are doing with those other initiatives, sheds, store delivery/pickup and retail media in its goal of doubling online revenues. Kroger is understanding where the business is going and growing. They are following the customers’ preferences and habits. They are taking action. Massive data is valuable, but only as valuable as what you do with it.

If they continue with this thinking, in 2030 there will be a Kroger we do not recognize by today’s standards, leaving the other traditional grocery operators stuck in a narrow view of their businesses.

No one? Wonder if he’s aware of who Amazon is — ya think?

As discount retailers with quality products like Aldi and Lidl grow their presence in the U.S., the domestic retailers are seeing a sales impact of almost 5 percent in the first few months of their new stores opening. Precisely understanding which products are contributing to these losses, from which segment of shopper, etc. is paramount to countering the competitor threat. From that angle, I believe, Kroger has built a good competitive moat that will continue to strengthen as they double their digital sales.

I noticed a lot of questioning on this thread about McMullen’s comment. The point is as a CEO he’s obligated to lead, which includes touting his brand. As a company it’s quite possible Kroger has amassed very pointed and highly focused data on customers across the board – beyond the usual transaction logs. Especially for customers who buy at Kroger specifically, through the Kroger Rewards and Kroger Plus loyalty programs. More importantly, Kroger sells fuel and convenience – they happen to be the third-largest fuel center in the U.S. with over 1,200 fuel centers. There will be products, habits, even travel trends that Amazon and Target just won’t have data on. The data collected needs to be harnessed into decisions – and that’s the hard part.

I have been working with leadership there and it is their whole culture not just the data assets. They will win on data and analytics because that is how they are viewing the transformation of marketing, personalization, and retailing. Kay, who leads their media team, was quoted recently in an article by Jack Neff at Ad Age that was based on a new brand growth framework I designed. Her comments would be illuminating on this issue.

When I read the headline of this post I thought about one of my favorite quotes from Lee Smith when he was President of Walmart and a reporter asked him how he would rate Walmart as a retailer and he said, “we are only a 6. We have so much to learn and so much we can be doing better.”

Kroger sits at the top of the pyramid when it comes to its national footprint of supermarket banners. As the largest operator in grocery, it sees more daily supermarket customer interactions than anyone, and by extension has curated the most significant set of consumer analytics, brand preference intelligence and buying behavior insights across the pure grocery retail spectrum. It is fascinating to witness these operators become as much of a technology/digital/data science platform as they are retailers.

Kroger is on the right track — personalization using data insights, the role of data analytics and action, and enabling technology are all variables that will keep Kroger in the game.

BUT they are not alone. I don’t agree with McMullen’s statement of other grocers only have transactional data.

Albertsons partnering with Google, Amazon Grocery, Target, Walmart, and even Sobeys and Loblaw are all using insights to make data driven decisions. They are also using robotics, automation, contactless technology, etc. to enable the future of grocery.

What will set these grocers apart is the customer experience, the expansion into private label using customer insights, and especially the use of new/innovative technology to keep customers keep coming into their stores. The question is what will set Kroger apart from the others? It seems they are all using the same consulting firms with the same playbooks on The Future of Grocery.

Having the best data and insight is great, wonder if they are thinking of monetizing the data in additional to using it to execute operational improvement. In terms of some of their aging stores, I do wonder if the plan is to improve ecommerce to the point that they will let go of some of the older stores or convert them to fulfillment points, rather than remodel the aging store.