Strategic plan zeroes in on stores, loyalty, e-commerce and Own Brands
Albertsons Cos. is gearing up “four engines of growth” to become a more efficient, customer-focused and omnichannel retailer, according to President and CEO Vivek Sankaran.
The nation’s second-largest supermarket operator reported improved results yesterday for its fiscal 2019 second quarter ended Sept. 7, including its seventh consecutive quarter of identical-store sales gains and strongest identical-sales performance in more than three years. E-commerce sales grew 40% year over year.
In addition, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons posted net earnings of $294.8 million for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $32.4 million a year earlier.
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“In summary, we have great locations, in attractive and growing markets and have strong market share in those markets,” he said. “As I’ve mentioned last quarter, since integration related to the Safeway merger is behind us, we are now able to focus on profitably growing our business.”
Albertsons’ “four engines of growth” are its stores, e-commerce, customer loyalty and private label, Sankaran said.
“I continue to be encouraged about the prospects of our business and our ability to grow it as we enhance the customer experience in-store and online and improve our operating performance,” Sankaran (left) told analysts yesterday in a conference call. “Over the last few years, we’ve brought together iconic retail brands with a rich heritage and a strong local following. We now have the ability to be locally great and nationally strong with almost 2,300 stores and a robust online offering. We are important to customers in many attractive markets. We operate in 120 MSAs [metropolitan statistical areas] and ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in 68% of those MSAs. In 65% of those 120 MSAs we operate in, the projected population growth over the next five years in aggregate exceeds the national average by over 50%.
“The first growth driver is our stores, a core of our business. We continue to enhance our everyday store operations, with a strong focus on the customer experience as well as improvements in productivity,” he explained. “Ease of shopping is central to our approach. Our goal is to provide customers with a variety of the items they want, in stock and easy to find, with a seamless checkout experience. This may be high-touch, warm and friendly or completely frictionless to self-checkouts, based on their needs. We strive to provide customers with an exciting sensory experience, driven by excellent quality, fresh especially needed produce and great solutions for meal within our delis.”
Source: Supermarket News