The Fantastic Four

This quartet of food retailers is doubling down on ecommerce now, for future success.

- Randy Hofbauer

It’s understood that in ecommerce, the grocery channel has been somewhat of a laggard compared with others. According to New York-based eMarketer.com, computers and consumer electronics are anticipated to make up the No. 1 category in U.S. ecommerce dollar sales between 2012 and 2018, at $108.4 billion, trailed by apparel and accessories ($86 billion) and auto and auto parts ($51.6 billion) at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Food and beverages fall at No. 9, with $10.9 billion.

Grocery ordering online for pickup or delivery is anticipated to mature, however. While only 12 percent and 9 percent of North Americans in 2015 reported purchasing groceries online for delivery or pickup, respectively, 55 percent and 57 percent said they’re willing to do the same, respectively, according to “The Future of Grocery,” an April 2015 report from Schaumburg, Ill.-based market researcher Nielsen. Clearly, many are ready to give online grocery shopping a try.

A number of traditional brick-and-mortar grocers seem to understand this reality and have been investing heavily in recent years to grab their share of the ecommerce pie sooner rather than later — and to continue to grow it even while competition heats up.

The following is a look at four of the more noteworthy contenders.

Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently has made significant strides to position itself as a major ecommerce player. In late 2015, the Bentonville, Ark.-based company announced plans to pour $2 billion into ecommerce over the following two years, outpacing the $700 million it spent on ecommerce in the previous fiscal year, The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2015.

Among the mega-retailer’s initiatives in the grocery ecommerce space were partnerships forged last June with rideshare services Uber, for the Phoenix market, and Lyft, for the Denver market.