Addressing a Citigroup analyst conference, Albertsons Companies’ President and CEO, Vivek Sankaran commented that 10 percent of sales are now through E-commerce with an eventual goal of 20 percent.  Following the emergence of COVID, Albertsons rapidly rolled out curbside pickup with 1,400 locations using the company ‘Drive Up & Go’ platform.  It is anticipated that 1,800 installations will be complete before the end of 2021 together with two-hour deliveries in urban markets.

As evidenced by how little Albertsons was involved in E-commerce, gains in excess of 230 percent were recorded for the first through the third quarters of FY 2020 covering February through December 2020.

To support ‘Drive Up & Go’, Albertsons has established micro-fulfillment centers with the first two at Safeway supermarkets in south San Francisco and San Jose, CA.  The company has acquired software and other resources from Takeoff Technologies and it is anticipated that seven micro-fulfillment centers will be established in 2021.  In population-dense areas, a micro- fulfillment center can serve up to ten stores.  A short delivery radius is essential for effective operation of micro-fulfillment centers especially if the company promotes a two-hour delivery service.