Albertsons, Google Partner to Digitize Grocery Shopping

Need to Know 

• Albertsons and Google have announced a partnership that promises to make the grocery shopping experience easier and more efficient.
• Customers of the US grocery chain will be able to find products using Google Search and Maps, check out with Google Pay, and more easily find information about curbside pickup and delivery.
• A number of large name brands, like Albertsons and IKEA, are using Google Cloud technology to improve their online customer experience. 
• Albertsons filed for IPO last year, citing plans to invest in digital services.

Analysis

Albertsons Companies has announced they’ll be teaming up with Google to launch a number of digital-first solutions that will promise to make shopping easier and more convenient for their millions of customers across the United States. 

Google and Albertsons have been quietly collaborating behind the scenes for the past year, and have finally announced they will be launching “a wide range of technologies and services aimed at making the customer experience more efficient.”

Some of the new services include an integration with Google Search and Maps to help customers find products more easily, streamlining the checkout process with Google Pay, and leveraging Google Cloud AI technology to build “the world’s most predictive grocery engine.”

The partnership will also make curbside pickup and delivery easier with Google Maps technology providing more information about online ordering directly from the mobile search. The number of Google searches for information about online grocery delivery and pickup has skyrocketed since the onset of the pandemic last year.

“Albertsons Cos. is continuing to transform into a modern retailer fit for the future, and we are leading the industry forward by providing the easiest and most exciting shopping experience for our customers,” said Chris Rupp, Albertsons’ chief customer & digital officer. “In bringing together Google’s technology expertise with our commitment to customer-centric innovation, we’re providing our customers with a superior shopping experience no matter how they choose to shop with us.”

Albertsons is the second-largest supermarket retailer in the United States and Google is one of the world’s largest IT companies, making the partnership potentially game-changing for the industry. 

The two brands also launched a recent collaboration to help Americans get up-to-date information about COVID-19 vaccines at Albertsons pharmacies. The supermarket giant will use Google’s Business Messages feature to handle the large volume of COVID-related customer inquiries. 

“Albertsons Companies is leading the way in bringing innovative technologies to the grocery store digital and physical aisle,” says Carrie Tharp, VP of retail and consumer at Google Cloud. “We’re proud to partner with Albertsons Companies to streamline processes and power innovative shopping experiences for customers. The unique strategic and technical collaboration at the heart of the Google and Albertsons partnership sets the stage for sustained post-pandemic transformation and momentum that will become clear to customers in both the near- and long-term.”

Google’s Cloud services have been tapped by another major brand to manage COVID-related inquiries. Since last year, home furnishings brand IKEA has been using Google Cloud technology to scale its online business. 

And the major Canadian grocer Loblaws is also using Google Cloud services to scale its online business after seeing unprecedented levels of web traffic and online orders. 

Albertsons last year filed for IPO, citing plans to invest $375 million in upgrading its online and digital capabilities.