Ocado might disagree, but Kroger’s tough decisions around its e-commerce re-think were the right thing to do. New CEO Gregory Foran explains why

It’s a time of transition for US grocery maven Kroger as the firm appoints Walmart veteran Gregory Foran as its full-time CEO - and among his first actions has been a firm endorsement of the company’s ripping-up of its e-commerce strategy last year.

That’s not to say that Foran is anti-e-commerce, far from it. During his time as head of Walmart US he played a large part in putting in place the online building blocks to get that retailer to its recently-achieved goal of turning a profit in digital sales.

Given that interim CEO Ron Sargent has been candid in his admissions that Kroger is not making money out of online, despite a pandemic booster on the sales front, Foran faces a similar challenge in his new role, declaring:

E-commerce is a key focus area for us. We've built this into a more than $16 billion business ...