The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Walmart has long cultivated an image as an reliable source of low-priced groceries, but the retail giant’s latest move to bulk up on customer loyalty is centered around a distinctly different way people satisfy their hunger: fast food.
The company’s tie-up with Burger King, announced Thursday, encourages shoppers enrolled in its Walmart+ membership program to fill up on Whoppers and fries — hardly the kind of nutrition that builds a healthy relationship between mealtime and wellbeing. Walmart points out, however, that linking with the fast food chain simply reflects its goal of providing customers with “undeniable value and convenience.”
Yet while Walmart’s decision to add discounts on Whoppers to its growing list of Walmart+ perks might be good business, it’s a curious choice for the nation’s largest grocery seller. Walmart has been stepping up its emphasis on private label food staples and focusing on produce and other fresh foods as it refreshes its supercenters, and grocery sales are playing a key role in driving the retailer’s results. In addition, Walmart’s powerful position in the grocery industry is one reason Kroger wants to merge with Albertsons.
Walmart positions itself as an essential source of the goods people need most — from groceries and clothing to medication and basic financial services. But as its pact with Burger King underscores, the company’s main reason for existing is to make money.
In case you missed it
Walmart’s new drink robot
A ghost kitchen inside a Rockford, Illinois, Walmart store is now home to a humanoid drink robot, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Equipped with AI-technology, the robot began working at the Walmart-located One Kitchen on Aug. 16, serving numerous coffee and boba drinks to customers. ADAM is expected to serve between 100 and 200 cups of coffee and tea per day.
Created by Richtech Robotics and known as ADAM, the robotic beverage system is slated to roll out across 240 One Kitchen locations in the U.S.
Grocers work to block rebate in Oregon
Measure 118, or the Oregon Rebate, has grocers nervous — so nervous that numerous chains are paying thousands to prevent it from passing. Already, filings with the Oregon secretary of state last week indicate Kroger, Albertsons-Safeway and Costco have written $500,000 checks to the Grocery Retail PAC, which is helping to fund a campaign opposing the measure, Willamette Week reported.
The Oregon rebate would impose a 3% gross receipts tax on any corporation with Oregon sales of more than $25 million a year, according to the local news outlet. Proponents project that the taxwould generate enough money to give each Oregonian $1,600 a year.
Giant Food or TSA security?
Some Washington, D.C., Giant Food locations are implementing new measures to combat shrink and theft, according to local TV station WUSA9.
The updated policy, which amends rules the supermarket chain implemented three months ago, allows shoppers to bring in bags measuring 14” x 14” x 6”, which were previously banned. However, customers must now consent to having their bags tagged when they enter and inspected upon entrance and exit, the news outlet reported. In addition, as of Thursday, certain locations will no longer allow individuals under 18 to enter after 6 p.m. without an adult.
Number of the week: $7.9 billion
That’s how much e-grocery sales totaled in July, up more than 9% compared with July 2023, according data released by Brick Meets Click and Mercatus. Pickup accounted for about 42% of those sales last month, while delivery claimed a share of just over 40% and ship-to-home nabbed 19%.
What’s ahead
Dollar General reports earnings
The discounter has scheduled its second-quarter earnings call for next Thursday morning.
Kroger, Albertsons and the Federal Trade Commission face off in court
A Monday hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in Portland will kick off the courtl battle between the two grocery giants seeking to merge and the federal agency.
In February, the FTC filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the proposed deal. Nine attorneys general — representing Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Wyoming and Washington, D.C. — joined the FTC in filing the complaint.
Impulse find
2000s nostalgia becomes a meal kit
Any early 2000s kid can still sing Hefty Zoo Pals’ jingle, because “Zoo Pals make eating fun!”
Now, the iconic 2000s dinnertime staple is serving up a limited-edition meal kits giveaway to make dinner more fun for the next generation. The meal kit comes with the funky animal-face plates you know and love from your childhood as well as branded cups, sandwich cutters and coasters, according to the press release.
Customers can go online to apply for a chance to win the Zoo Pals meal kit. The offer ends Aug. 28.
