*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).
The movie-theater company’s stock plunged nearly 40% after it announced plans to sell 11.6 million shares to raise cash, while warning buyers they could lose all their investment.
What Dr. Fauci had to say in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a college basketball legend is retiring, and getting nothing for something. Here's all the news you Need2Know for June 3, 2021.
Salvage experts have failed to tow a fire-stricken container ship carrying chemicals out to sea and it has started to sink off Sri Lanka’s main port, raising fears of a marine environmental disaster.
AMC Entertainment is looking to keep in closer contact with some of its newer investors, as the movie theater chain embraces its meme stock popularity.
N.Y. COVID milestone, Krispy Kreme's big move, swimming sky-high, and much more. Here is all the news you Need2Know for June 2, 2021.
An emotional President Joe Biden has marked the 100th anniversary of the massacre that wiped out a thriving Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
China's leaders are easing limits on how many children each couple can have, hoping to counter the rapid aging of Chinese society.
Remembering the Tulsa Race Massacre, QAnon vs. church, people are heading back to the box office, and more!
This summer — just one year after social distancing orders and business shutdowns made a regular beach season impossible — is shaping up to be one of the busiest in recent memory, as newly-vaccinated vacationers flood the beaches and boardwalks. But employers are having trouble finding enough employees.
Memorial Day Weekend 2021 looking much better than last year. Biden's dropping his new budget, the NBA has an unruly fan problem and listener advice for Carlo as he prepares to become a new dad!
