Kroger and Google team up on new app integration

Add your order to Google Maps to give store your ETA to pick up groceries

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. and Google Maps have announced an app integration partnership they say will “streamline” grocery shopping.

It works this way: When you order groceries from participating Kroger Dayton locations via the Google Map app, you can add your order and destination store to Google Maps.

When it’s time to leave, Google Maps will send you a notification and let you share your arrival time with the store.

Your estimated time of arrival will be continuously shared with the store, “helping the store prioritize your order so that it’s ready as soon as you get there,” as Google put it in a release. “There’s no need to call, wait times are shorter, and your groceries are kept refrigerated (if needed) right until they’re placed into your car.”

These Kroger locations in Dayton, Huber Heights and Kettering are participating, according to Google:

· 2921 W. Alex Bell Road.

· 3520 W. Siebenthaler Ave.

· 4506 Brandt Pike.

· 7747 Troy Pike.

· 530 E. Stroop Road.

· 2115 E. Dorothy Lane.

In all, the functionality is being offered at nearly 100 stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, the company said.

Demand for no-contact, curbside pickup exploded during the pandemic and continues to be popular, even with pandemic restrictions lifted, Google said.

Stats from March 2020 show that Americans were using Google Maps to search for “curbside pickup” nearly 9,000% more than they were a year prior.

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