Kroger Ecommerce Adds Brick-and-mortar Jobs

The Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. has added 25 to 35 new jobs to each store offering its new ClickList click-and-collect service, bucking the common notion that adding ecommerce to a grocery operation eliminates jobs, The Tennessean of Nashville, Tenn., reported.

Additionally, Kroger in the near future will announce a grocery delivery service, which will create even more jobs for the purpose of getting orders from the store to customers' doors, Jeff Evans, ecommerce manager for Kroger's Delta Division, told the newspaper. The service already is being tested in some divisions.

When ClickList arrives at a store, it starts with three full-time positions: a manager, a lead selector for training grocery pickers, and a lead attendant for training attendants who transfer orders to customers' vehicles, The Tennessean said. The first typically is an experienced employee, while the other two typically are new roles.

Although most of the jobs created via ClickList are part-time, they are so for flexibility: Stores are open from 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., during which customers can pick up their orders, Evans stated. However, part-time positions can qualify workers for full-time work, with many already turning full-time, Lonnie Sheppard, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1529, confirmed with the paper.