Kroger Co. plans to sell groceries in sections of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. stores, as both retailers look for ways to keep customers loyal to their products.

The first “Kroger Express” sections will open by early next year in 13 Walgreens stores near the grocer’s Cincinnati headquarters, the companies announced.

The companies said they would add more of the 4,000-square-foot displays of produce, Home Chef meal kits and other products if customers take to them, The Wall Street Journal reported. They will account for roughly a third of an average Walgreens selling space.

In October, the companies had announced a partnership to allow Kroger customers to order online and pick up groceries at some of the drug retailer’s stores, Reuters reported.

Kroger (KR) and Walgreens (WBA) are among national retailers who have been implementing new ways to draw more shoppers to their stores as they face intense competition from online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and its unit Whole Foods, Reuters explained.

To be sure, Walgreens Boots Alliance Chief Executive Officer Stefano Pessina said it will be easier for his company to move online than it will be for Amazon.com Inc. to copy its massive store network, predicting a long future for the pharmacy chain as it strikes new partnerships in health and retail.

Pessina recently told Bloomberg that reports that Amazon.com may open up thousands of physical stores is a acknowledgment that a brick-and-mortar presence is still important in some retail markets.

“It shows that they have understood that you cannot just be online,” Pessina said. “The customer of the future will not be happy to sit at home to talk to an Alexa.”

Bloomberg News reported that Amazon.com is considering opening up as many as 3,000 new AmazonGo cashierless stores in the next few years to sell things like food items and other convenience goods, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon has not publicly confirmed the plans.

“I don’t believe it is a big threat,” Pessina said of Amazon. “It will be another competitor, but I don’t think we’ll disappear because of Amazon. We’ll adapt.”