Walmart Simplifies Online EBT Use; Kroger Expands Private Label

Walmart online grocery

As grocers increasingly find ways to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) payments through their digital channels, Walmart, the world’s largest grocery retailer, is looking to make the online shopping process for recipients simpler.

The retailer announced Tuesday (Sept. 13) a series of updates to its online shopping channels that includes the option to filter products by those that are EBT or SNAP-eligible. In doing so, the superstore chain has the opportunity to win the digital loyalty of the program’s huge participant base, which as of June, per USDA data, included 41 million people nationwide.

“Regardless of how our customers pay for their food, we want them to be able to enjoy convenient shopping options to fit their schedules,” Walmart U.S. Executive Vice President and Chief eCommerce Officer Tom Ward wrote in the announcement. “And we want to make the experience as seamless as possible for them.”

The news comes as many online grocery merchants and aggregators look to better meet the needs of SNAP EBT recipients despite the logistical difficulties of accepting these payments. In August, for instance, Instacart announced that it has expanded EBT SNAP payment acceptance to 10 additional states.

In an interview with PYMNTS, Ofek Lavian, CEO and co-founder of SNAP-integrated third-party payment processor (TPPs) Forage, spoke to the need of grocery delivery options for program participants.

“There were two opposing thoughts within Instacart when we initially wanted to launch this. One of them was, hey, are people on EBT ever going to order groceries online? Why would they do that? Why would they pay the premium for delivery?” he said. “The other school thought was, no, this is really core to our mission.”

Contrary to the former argument, he noted, it turned out that there was indeed an audience for the technology, given that many SNAP EBT participants live in areas where the nearest stores do not offer healthy foods and that they are disproportionately likely to have disabilities, making delivery options all the more necessary.

Independent, Single-Store California Grocer First in State to Accept EBT Online

It is not only the grocery giants looking to extend their eCommerce options to SNAP EBT participants. On Thursday (Sept. 15), Shopify solution provider Grocerist announced that it has received USDA approval for Gong’s Market, an Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) grocer, Gong’s Market, to be the state’s first single-store grocer to accept these payments online.

The combination of these two initiatives within a week of each other reveals that the entire grocery industry, from behemoths to independents, is turning their focus to this under-tapped segment of the U.S. grocery shopper market.

Kroger Gives Inflation-Weary Customers What They Want With New Product Line

Kroger, for its part, the United States’ leading pure-play grocer, is also thinking about the needs of lower-income consumers, especially as these shoppers’ spending habits are threatened by skyrocketing inflation. Noting consumers’ tendencies to trade down to private-label products, the grocer announced last week (Sept. 8) the launch of a new, lower-priced line of products, Smart Way.

“As our customers face an ongoing inflationary environment, we know they are looking to stretch their dollars further than ever before,” Kroger Senior Vice President and Chief Merchant and Marketing Officer Stuart Aitken said in a statement. “By adding a simplified opening price point brand strategy to Our Brands portfolio, we will further cater to every customer, every time.”

The line includes 150 products with more to come in the fall.

This launch comes as grocery shoppers seek out just these such items — private-label brands and lower-priced alternatives. Census Bureau data released this Thursday reveal that consumers are being more conservative in their grocery spending, with total grocery spending up just 8% year over year in August, well below the 14% grocery inflation rate.

Indeed, research from PYMNTS’ study “Consumer Inflation Sentiment: Inflation Slowly Ebbs, but Consumer Outlook Remains Gloomy,” which drew from an August survey of 2,169 consumers, found that 62% of grocery shoppers say that they have cut down on nonessential spending. Additionally, 37% report that they have begun purchasing lower-quality items. Conversely, only 14% of grocery shoppers say that their behavior has not been impacted by inflation.

See more: New Survey Shows Consumers Less Optimistic Than Fed on Taming Inflation