CINCINNATI, OH - As Kroger drives forward its merger with Albertsons, the retailer is continuing to invest in other facets of its growth, including its digital transformation. Recently, the company’s Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President, Yael Cosset, joined Sucharita Kodali, Vice President at Forrester Research, at the National Retail Federation's (NRF) Big Show to discuss its digital journey and its impacts on consumers and associates.

"We continue to invest in our digital transformation journey by enhancing our customer and associate experiences, recognizing that both are equally impactful to gaining loyalty and earning our customer's next trip," said Cosset. "Our aim is to be the fresh food destination by providing customers with an experience that gives them exactly what they want no matter how they shop and use our digital capabilities to support associates, making their jobs easier and enabling them to spend more time doing what they are best at—interacting with customers."

Cosset went on to explain that Kroger has significantly invested in consumer-facing digital innovations to offer greater value and savings, according to a release. An example included digital weekly circulars, giving consumers the ability to shop directly from the ads, and improvements make shoppers aware of the available savings on their most loved products.

Associates have also benefited from these tech upgrades, Cosset detailed. Mobile technology in stores offers tools for customized learning and training experiences, task management, and the ability to better assess product availability to support stock levels and fulfillment.

“Digital transformation efforts have dramatically reduced our time to hire by implementing digital-first HR solutions,” added Cosset, referring to digital transformation efforts to find, train, and retain associates. “Training applications have been developed using world-class design practices to emphasize ease of use, enhancing speed-to-excellence. Lastly, as we do for our customer experience, we are measuring if the technology we are deploying improves the associate experience by monitoring Net Promoter Score for our associates' solutions so that we can constantly improve the impact digital transformation has on associates."

With this transformation still ongoing, Cosset went on to share his thoughts on artificial intelligence and more. To see what else he had to say, click here.

The pace of technological evolution is not slowing down, and as retailers embrace the advancements, ANUK will relay the latest innovations.