Cincinnati-based grocery giant Kroger announced a new ecommerce unit that will align teams contributing to every aspect of the online customer experience.

The decision frames ecommerce as a priority at the grocery chain, centralizing control of operations under one of Kroger’s top leaders. Kroger’s senior vice president and chief information officer, Yael Cosset, will lead this function as executive vice president and chief digital officer, effective immediately.

Kroger ranks No. 6 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database of North America’s largest online retailers by annual web sales. Kroger is No. 1 in the Top 2000’s Food & Beverage category, though it competes with Mass Merchants — like Walmart, Target and Costco — that rank higher in the Top 2000 for online grocery sales. Digital Commerce 360 projects that Kroger’s ecommerce sales will reach $19.98 billion in 2025.

Kroger web sales by year

What Kroger’s new ecommerce unit will do

Yael Cosset, senior vice president and chief information officer at Kroger

As chief digital officer, Cosset will continue to oversee technology and data for the company and expand his responsibilities to include the new ecommerce unit. Cosset, who has been at Kroger for eight years, has a deep reservoir of experience in ecommerce, having previously helmed Cincinnati-based data firm 84.51˚’s digital efforts. He also held other digital roles prior to that.

“Accelerating Kroger’s ecommerce growth is a top priority,” said Ron Sargent, Kroger’s new chairman and CEO, in the press release. “As the architect of Kroger’s digital strategy, Yael will continue to make it easier for customers to shop for our fresh, affordable food.”

Plans for the ecommerce unit are still taking shape.

“We are still working through some of the details,” Kroger spokesperson Erin Rolfes told Digital Commerce 360. “The main goal is to bring all the functions that support ecommerce together to better serve our customers.”

Why ecommerce is important for Kroger

The ecommerce unit is launching at a time when Kroger is seeing robust revenue and growth from online sales, the company searches for a new permanent CEO, and as it moves on from its failed merger attempt with rival Albertsons. For the recently ended fiscal year, Kroger saw an 11% increase in online sales, totaling $13 billion.

Kroger has benefited from demand for online grocery ordering. In 2015, it launched what was then called Click List, a service where customers could order online and pick up in store (also called buy online, pick up in store, or BOPIS). The feature became widely used during the pandemic. Even as the pandemic subsided, though, use of BOPIS has remained at elevated levels.

Juan Pellerano-Rendon, chief marketing officer at the ecommere platform Swap, said that even with the pandemic in the rearview mirror, digital grocery shopping is here to stay.

“The shift of grocery shopping to ecommerce began before the pandemic and has only accelerated since,” Pellerano-Rendon said.

He noted that in logistics, the “last mile problem” is often the most complex and costly aspect of delivery.

“Grocery, however, is uniquely positioned to tackle this challenge — especially in major cities where customers tend to live near the ‘warehouse,’ in this case, the grocery store itself,” Pellerano-Rendon explained.

Changes in post-pandemic work patterns are also driving the trend.

“As more consumers return to the office on a three-to-five-day schedule, time becomes a premium,” he stated. “Grocery delivery emerges as a critical convenience, offering a streamlined solution for those balancing demanding workweeks with daily errands.”

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