Kroger: Grocery and pharmacy pilot a program to deliver food as medicine.

The need: Kroger needed strategic support for their pharmacy business, which had been flagging due to awareness and fundamental attitudes about how a grocery store and a pharmacy work together. But was this a problem of awareness, or something bigger? With limited understanding of the Kroger shopper as a person, the ask was clear: meet with Kroger shoppers to learn who they are, identifying opportunity areas for Kroger pharmacy to close the gap on awareness and appeal, being sure to understand perceptions on the overall brand, the pharmacy, and concepts around health and wellness. 

The approach: IX took a top-down ethnographic approach, conducting in-person  interviews, overt naturalistic observation, and scheduled  interpretations. We conducted several immersions in three markets,  including a walk-through of the local Kroger, in-home interviews, and  structured activities designed to reveal attitudes and behaviors related  to health and wellness.

The result: The story we consistently heard was of people battling health and hoping  for wellness. Our recommendation that Kroger make clear dietary and behavioral suggestions across the broader store—including but not  limited to pharmacy—has culminated in a successful pilot program that continues to expand since its rollout in 2019. This program allows doctors to write “food prescriptions” their patients can follow with the help of a Kroger Health professional. As the pilot successfully continues, Kroger plans to broadly expand the  program.