*By Amanda Weston*
Grocery chain Kroger launched a new delivery service Wednesday to compete with industry giants Amazon and Walmart.
[Kroger Ship](https://ship.kroger.com/) offers more than 50,000 products to online shoppers in Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, and Nashville. The chain aims to lure new customers with curated options, free shipping for orders over $35, and discounts.
Online shopping accounts for about 2 percent of the American food-and-beverage market, but it's rapidly expanding.
"When you look at all these new channels in the industry, they are growing extremely, extremely fast," Yael Cosset, Kroger's chief digital officer, said Thursday in an interview with Cheddar.
This isn't Kroger's first attempt at online delivery. The grocery chain has offered delivery service from almost half its 2,800 stories through Instacart.
The new service represents the chain's ambition to make shopping easier for its customers ー and help keep its brick and mortar businesses stable.
"The direct interaction with some of the fresh assortment ー produce, meat, seafood, cheese ー experiential engagement is still very important to them," he said. "They do, however, still want the convenience and simplicity that a digital engagement can offer."
Kroger is going up against Amazon, a formidable competitor, [which sold](https://www.wsj.com/articles/kroger-to-launch-grocery-delivery-service-1533117720) about $650 million worth of food items in the second quarter, up 40 percent from 2017.
As for Kroger Ship's future, Cosset said digital partnerships will also play a major role in growth.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/kroger-introduces-kroger-ship-delivery-service).
Matt Faubion, Wealth Manager and Investment Adviser at Faubion Wealth Management, joins Cheddar to break down the pros and cons to gifting and receiving investments, like stock or cryptocurrency, as a gift this holiday season.
President Joe Biden is expected to meet with his COVID-19 response team as the omicron variant continues to surge across the country. Experts say Delta is driving this surge but Dr. Anthony Fauci says Omicron will take over. Emergency physician Dr. Daniel Fagbuyi joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Trip.com is now adding Hopper's price freeze feature for its users. The feature will help travelers save money by protecting them from pricing volatility when booking their next trip. The company is the first online travel agency to partner with Hopper's B2B initiative, Hopper Cloud. Dakota Smith, chief strategy officer at Hopper, joins Cheddar News to walk us through the feature and how the company is addressing Omicorn concerns.
'Spider-Man: No Way Home' caught moviegoers in its web this weekend at the box office. The film premiered at $260 million in U.S. ticket sales, making it the second-best domestic debut of all time and the biggest opening since the pandemic began. Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxofficePro.com, joins Cheddar News to discuss the film's success.
Spider-Man is hoping to come to the rescue of movie theaters as they struggle to recover from the pandemic. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" starring Tom Holland is officially out in theaters and is expected to generate a whopping $150 million in its box office debut. Sean O'Connell, managing editor of CinemaBlend, joined Cheddar to discuss his expectations for the new Marvel movie, and what the entertainment industry is doing to prepare for a potential winter surge in COVID cases.
With the resurgence in COVID cases and the uncertainty of the Omicron variant, many companies, like Apple, Ford, Google, and countless others, are delaying their return-to-office dates. This means employees will continue to work from home full time or continue a hybrid approach, which can cause some challenges. Executive coach Stefania Romeo joined Cheddar to discuss how companies can best manage the difficulties of hybrid work.
Rebecca Minkoff is launching a new initiative through her non-profit, Female Founder Collective. A former Wall Street analyst and financial strategist will be coaching new founders to focus on their financial transformation, from getting their business financially organized to uncovering opportunities to increase revenue. The renowned founder and fashion designer joined Cheddar to discuss this new program and the advice she gives to female founders hoping to get their business off the ground.
Carlo's joined by a quarantining Baker to discuss the headlines from the weekend as Omicron spreads like wildfire, Manchin kills Biden's signature bill and Spider-Man throws a lifeline to the box office.
Travis Clark, senior media reporter at Insider, joined 'Wake Up With Cheddar' to break down the $253 million domestic opening for the new Marvel movie. This also marked the third-largest global opening of all time, earning $587 million worldwide, even though it wasn't released in China, which is a major market for moviegoers.
