The Kroger Company has experienced an increase in sales and become “much more competitive” against major retail discounters in the US after lowering its prices on some fresh produce items, according to a report by The Packer.
While Kroger is “not necessarily the price leader” in fresh fruits and vegetables, “our objective is to be within a certain range of the price leader on items that are important to our price-sensitive customers,” Don Becker, a company executive vice president explained during an investor presentation on 29 September.
“That gives us the flexibility to respond to the market and adjust our prices as our competitors do,” Mr Becker added.
Quoting recent company research, Mr Becker said Kroger “discovered that produce was missing in many customers shopping carts `…` they were either not buying it from us, or they were buying it from someone else” so “we responded to our customers by investing in lower prices on produce.”
According to Mr Becker, reducing prices for fruit and vegetables, along with greater efforts to promote locally-grown products, helped to increase Kroger’s sales last year.
And in 2010 the retailer claims its sales volume continues to be strong across the company’s 2,468 stores in 31 states, along with 784 convenience stores.
Previously, Kroger forecast sales at identical supermarkets to rise by 2 per cent to 3 per cent during 2010.
In the three months ended 14 August, Kroger’s identical-store sales (excluding fuel) increased by 2.7 per cent to US$14.95bn.
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