New Covid variant rattles markets

Black Friday starts at home

This year is expected to be light on deals as supply chains struggle to keep up.

A possible new Covid strain in South Africa already has governments on edge.

Facing rising caseloads, Austria imposed severe lockdowns while Germany refused.

As the pandemic shifts to an epidemic, we expect the push to online fulfillment to embed itself more in society.

Take a recently little-covered story regarding Kroger (KR). 

In Florida, Publix dominates the grocery supermarket market.

Kroger decided to enter, not with physical stores, but entirely online delivery.

Even with fewer SKUs, Kroger’s model delivers similar items as Publix with its Shipt partnership at 75% the price.

Considering the population of Florida, that’s a major move for the largest grocer in the US.

And it speaks to how big business is ignoring traditional brick and mortar entirely when entering new markets, a trend we expect to continue and grow especially as the pandemic persists.