Title EN: Kroger Lost $12 Billion in Shoppers to Costco, Walmart and Amazon section: economy
America's largest traditional supermarket chain is bleeding shoppers. A new report from consumer intelligence firm Numerator finds Kroger and its banners lost more than $12 billion in consumer packaged goods spending over the past year, as customers moved their baskets to Amazon, Walmart and Costco.
The damage is measurable at the store level. Spending at Kroger-branded stores fell by $715 million, with shoppers making 9 million fewer trips than the year before. At Ralphs, Kroger's California banner, spending dropped $516 million and trips fell by 5.5 million. The direct losses alone topped $1 billion.
The report's most striking numbers describe a customer base splitting in two. Kroger added more than 1 million high-income households over the past year — but lost 700,000 lower-income households. Those lower-income shoppers cut their packaged-goods spending 5.2% year over year and made 30 million fewer trips. Numerator calls it a $1 billion spending gap created by low-income households.
The category mix tells the same story. Spending on grocery staples like canned goods, beverages and candy rose $800 million, while household items such as laundry, cleaning and dishwashing supplies fell $97 million, and health and beauty products dropped $178 million. The one bright spot: Kroger's private-label fresh foods, where customer spending jumped $420 million in a year.
CEO Greg Foran, who took the helm in February, acknowledged the strain on the company's September earnings call: "Customers are being more deliberate with their spending and at times, shopping us selectively. We're getting too many promotional trips and not enough of the full basket."
Foran's answer is a price war. In May, he told Bloomberg the company would cut prices on thousands of items — its biggest price reductions in years. "The reality is, the basket has to come down," he said. "It needs to be across thousands of products, and it has to be something that passes the commonsense piece with customers." He compared the business to a Formula One race, saying Kroger's goal is "to get out of the midfield" and catch the lead group: Walmart, Costco, Aldi and Trader Joe's.
To fund the cuts without gutting margins, Foran is squeezing the supply chain: direct importing, tighter operations, and tougher negotiations. In September, shoppers in several markets found Boar's Head deli meats and Red Bull missing from shelves — three Marketplace stores ran out of Boar's Head and did not restock it, a move widely read as a pricing dispute.
Foran has said publicly he will not tolerate suppliers using inflation as an excuse to raise prices. Analysts note the gamble: Kroger is betting shoppers won't switch stores over a missing energy drink. "The real risk isn't losing the Red Bull sale. It's losing the grocery cart," one economist told local station WKRC.
Compounding the pressure, a September report titled "Kroger's Pricing Problem" accuses the company of systematic overcharging. The Center for Responsible Food Business (CRFB) obtained 389 government inspection records from 2022 through mid-2026 via public-records requests. Inspectors found overcharging at more than one in three stores examined across nine Ohio jurisdictions — 36 of 101. Of 644 incorrect prices recorded, overcharges averaged more than 20% above shelf prices, and pricing errors favored Kroger nearly three times as often as they favored shoppers.
The report pairs the inspection data with nearly 2,000 accounts from customers, employees and suppliers: 29% described repeated overcharges, 13% described misleading signage and fine-print sale conditions. Kroger has not issued a detailed response.
This is not Kroger's problem alone. Walmart has cut prices on roughly 7,200 items, up more than 20% from last year. Costco, Target and Whole Foods have followed with their own discounts. What began as Kroger's offensive has become a full-blown industry price war, and analysts warn it could compress margins across the sector.
For shoppers, the short term looks good: shelf prices are falling. For suppliers and store workers, the pressure is rising — more frequent price changes, tighter replenishment, and relentless cost discipline from headquarters.
In July, Kroger announced a $1.65 billion deal to acquire Giant Eagle — $1.25 billion in cash plus about $400 million in assumed liabilities — adding 197 supermarkets and roughly $9 billion in annual sales. The deal, expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory approval, is Foran's first major acquisition and a bid to buy the scale that gives leverage over suppliers.
Whether scale can win back shoppers remains an open question. Numerator's data carries a hard lesson: when lower-income families are cutting even basic grocery spending, how much a price war can retain depends on how real the discounts are — and every cent overcharged at the register burns through whatever trust the discounts built.