Albertsons grew digital sales at more than 10x the rate of identical sales growth in its fiscal Q4 and 2024, which ended Feb. 22, 2025.
In Q4, Albertsons logged nearly $18.8 billion in net sales and other revenue. That marked year-over-year growth from about $18.34 billion in its Q4 2023.
For its full fiscal 2024, Albertsons reported $80.39 billion in net sales and other revenue. That’s up from about $79.24 in its fiscal 2023.
In March, Albertsons and competitor Kroger both announced new CEOs on the same day. Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran plans to retire as of May 1 after being with the company for six years. Chief operations officer Susan Morris will take over his role.
Morris said the retailer has driven customer growth and engagement through four digital channels, growing the Albertsons Media Collective — the company’s retail media network.
“These platforms are designed to drive increased sales, more deeply engage our most loyal customers, increase customer lifetime value and generate digital space and robust data for the Albertsons Media Collective,” Morris told investors in the retailer’s Q4 earnings call.
The four channels she referred to:
- Ecommerce
- Loyalty
- Pharmacy and Health
- Integration of mobile app for use in stores
“Ecommerce penetration is still below our industry peers and is one of our biggest growth customer acquisition and customer retention opportunities for 2025 and beyond,” Morris said.
Albertsons is No. 19 in the Top 2000 Database. The database ranks North America’s top online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales. It owns and operates its namesake store, Albertsons, as well as brands including Carrs, Haggen, Jewel Osco, Lucky, Safeway and more.
Albertsons digital sales in Q4
Following 23% year-over-year growth in its fiscal Q3, Albertsons grew digital sales 24% in Q4.
First-party ecommerce sales growth “far” outpaced third-party growth, Morris said.
“We operate our ecommerce business out of our stores, which allows us to leverage our rich asset base and proximity to our customers,” she said. “It also enables full access to our merchandise assortment, a fast and convenient Drive Up and Go experience and robust delivery options.”
Additionally, Albertsons digital sales now account for more than 8% of the retailer’s grocery revenue. In its top markets, that bumps up over 10%, she added.
Albertsons also grew its loyalty membership more than 15% year over year in Q4, to more than 45 million members. On top of that, Morris said, the amount of actively engaged customers increased 12%.
The retailer’s “new, simplified loyalty program is a key enabler of digital customer engagement and a rich source of data for the Albertsons Media Collective,” she said.
Meanwhile, Albertsons’ mobile app sends consumers personalized deals, offers ways to earn points, and lets consumers redeem those points for fuel and grocery rewards, or cash off their grocery bill. 20% of engaged households elect for the cash-off option in their purchases, which Morris said reinforces “the customer desire for immediate value.”
Albertsons’ mobile app
Albertsons launched its mobile app for use in stores in 2024. Since then, 9 million customers have engaged with the in-store feature, Morris told investors.
“When customers are in our stores, we want them to digitally engage with us, which requires us to raise the bar on store level execution,” she said.
The in-store feature helps consumers locate products and assists with meal-planning and generating shopping lists, Morris said. Albertsons plans to drive increased customer engagement through the in-store mobile app feature in 2025, “adding additional conveniences and value,” she said.
Growing the Albertsons Media Collective
“All these digital platforms are working together to generate deeper customer engagement, increase digital inventory and enrich our data to accelerate growth in the Albertsons Media Collective,” Morris said.
In the retailer’s current fiscal year, she said, Albertsons will continue to “significantly invest” in improving endemic and non-endemic brand reach to deliver a transparent measurement model.
“These investments will also improve our ability to define shopper audiences, run targeted media campaigns, compress campaign measurement timelines, and deliver consistent [omnichannel] execution across our digital and physical assets,” Morris said.
Addressing the consumer’s battle against inflation and tariffs
Morris said Albertsons is working with its vendor partners “to strategically invest in price in certain categories and certain markets.”
It plans to feature its own brands and offer products at “attractive entry price points.”
Albertsons’ owned-brand products accounted for 25.4% of Q4 sales. Morris said that can grow “to at least 30%.”
To help optimize pricing decisions, Albertsons built a real-time comprehensive platform that enables data science and artificial intelligence, she said. The new AI technology will help with recommendations and lookalike capabilities, giving consumers personalized offers that capitalize on opportunities to reduce inventory shrink, she added.
In the retailer’s supply chain, she said, Albertsons is optimizing its “onshore and offshore activities to not only reduce costs, but to accelerate innovation in technology and data analytics.”
Albertsons procures more than 90% of its products domestically, Morris said.
“We also recognize, though, that even in those domestic purchases, there are impacts from ingredients that are sourced from tariff-impacted areas,” Morris said.
Albertsons has excluded the impact of tariffs “and other potential market dislocations” in its financial outlook. Albertsons also expects to grow identical sales in the range of 1.5% to 2.5% in its fiscal 2025.
Here’s last quarter’s article on Albertsons digital sales.
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