The pandemic has fueled an online-grocery movement, with analysts and executives predicting that it will last beyond the pandemic and Kroger Co. being the latest to join other major food retailers in reporting surging digital sales.
The head of Whole Foods, which Amazon bought in 2017 for $13.4 billion in a bid to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint and gain an edge in the $700-billion grocery industry, said he believes the trend away from in-person shopping will persist even after the pandemic subsides.
