CINCINNATI - So much for clever branding.
The Kroger Co. has ended the use of its registered trademark for ordering groceries online and picking them up at the store. The service formerly known as ClickList is now known simply as Grocery Pickup.
“We are being more descriptive of the service to help our customers better understand our offerings,” the company says on its website. “You will now see Pickup, Delivery and Ship as the methods to receive your grocery orders.”
The change follows an evolution of Kroger’s digital offerings, which now let consumers order online for home delivery and in-store pickup. Chief Financial Officer Mike Schlotman told Wall Street analysts this month that 80 percent of Kroger customers now have access to pickup or delivery services, up from 75 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
The company is testing the use of self-driving vehicles for grocery delivery in Scottsdale, Arizona. And it’s building robot-enabled warehouses for home deliveries in three U.S. cities, as part of a joint venture with Britain’s Ocado Group Plc.
“Our relationship with Kroger has grown in scale and scope in recent months,” Ocado Chief Financial Officer Duncan Tatton-Brown told analyst in its Sept. 18 earnings call. “Kroger is making good progress identifying the first three CFCs it intends to open, and we're making equally good progress working out the details of our commercial relationship.”
