Category Archives: On-line food shopping

customer experience, Customer Service, On-line food shopping

Martin’s Supermarkets Expands On-line Shopping

According to a recent Business Briefs article, Martin’s Super Markets, a mid-west chain, is continuing to roll out of its online shopping service, which they call Groceries To Go, and which is now available at 12 of their 21 stores.

The Groceries-To-Go service costs $4.99 per order, the article explains. The process is also straightforward, as once users go online or download the app (on either iPhone or Android devices) and create an account they simply shop and choose a pickup time, and then pay. Someone at their chosen store then sends an email confirming receipt of the order, and then sends another email when the order is ready for pickup.

To pickup their order, customers simply park in designated areas and then text or call to announce their arrival. A “Personal Shopper” then brings the groceries and loads them into the customer’s vehicle.

Pharmacy prescriptions, alcohol and tobacco products are not available for online ordering, the article said. Log on to www.martinsgroceriestogo.com for more information.

The trend toward online shopping and an enhanced customer experience continues…

customer experience, Customer Service, Customer service and loyalty, Grocery shopping trends, On-line food shopping

On-line Food Retail Continues to Gain Momentum

A recent SupermarketNews article reported that Target will begin offering same-day delivery to customers in three metro areas—Boston, Miami and Minneapolis—starting Feb. 1.

The move comes following the retailer’s December acquisition of Shipt, the article said.

The article went on to say that online retail is picking up speed at an even faster rate than previously thought, and that both Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen data suggest 70% of consumers will shop for groceries online by 2024.

The trend toward on-line shopping is a strong one for sure, but supermarkets by-and-large have significantly improved the level of customer service and the in-store shopping experience.

The question is, how can they combine the two “experiences” to build stronger levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty?

Read the full article…

Customer Service, On-line food shopping, Process improvement

Groceries Delivered & Put-Away in Your Home?

According to a recent posting on techcrunch.com, Walmart has announced that it will begin testing a new service that will allow customers with August smart home devices, like the August doorbell and security cameras, to have their packages and groceries delivered inside their home instead of left on the doorstep. Grocery orders won’t just be placed inside the house like the packages, but will be put away in the fridge and freezer, when appropriate.

The retailer says it will soon start this test in the Silicon Valley area with select customers who have opted into to try the new service.

Sounds like continuous process improvement and the trend toward innovative customer service continues!

Read the full story…

Customer engagement, Customer Service, Customer service and loyalty, Grocery shopping trends, On-line food shopping

The e-Trend Continues: Saving Shoppers Time & Money

A recent “10 Items or Less” article posted by SupermarketNews identified steps taken by major food retailers that indicate the focus on e-shopping will continue to grow in 2017.

The article states that Wal-Mart Stores plans to have around 1,100 stores offering online grocery pickup this year, and that they are continuing with initiatives built around making fulfillment more versatile and/or efficient, such as offering discounts on online orders picked up in stores, and testing the idea of having store employees deliver orders to customer’s homes on their post-work commutes.

The piece goes on to report that Amazon said it was rolling out “Instant Pickup,” a free service offering its Prime members a curated selection of “daily essentials” available for pickup in two minutes or less. The service is available at five campus locations currently with plans to add more locations soon.

Even no-frills Aldi had issued a statement indicating it was getting into e-commerce for the first time through a partnership with Instacart in three cities.

“Our partnership with Instacart is another example of Aldi expanding our commitment to customer convenience and value,” Jason Hart, CEO of Aldi, said. “We know customers are looking for new ways to save time and money.”

As these new services are being rolled-out, it strikes me that supermarket chains will need to take an innovative approach to refining their work processes to reduce waste and cost.

See related article…about becoming more innovative.

Grocery shopping trends, On-line food shopping

Grocery Shopper Decisions at the Shelf?

A recent SupermarketNews article shared some interesting insights into how grocery shoppers are making decisions with respect to making healthier choices.

The primary factors influencing these “at the shelf” decisions include:

  • Concerns about impact on personal health/well-being
  • Desire to know exactly what ingredients go into their food
  • Environmental impacts
  • Do not want to support suppliers that use of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s)

While the study also showed an increasing number of shoppers relying on online-only retailers, (a trend led by Millennials), they’re selecting a narrow range of products online, such as household cleaning products, and continue to buy fresh bakery and produce items in-store.

 

Customer Service, Customer service and loyalty, Grocery shopping trends, On-line food shopping

Wegmans Launching E-Commerce Partnership & One Hour Delivery Options

A recent SupermarketNews article reported that Wegmans is launching an e-commerce partnership with Instacart , which will enable online shopping and delivery at Wegmans Food Markets in select cities.

According to the article, the service will be available in Northern Virginia and Maryland, and will allow customers to order from Wegmans online and have their groceries delivered to them in as little as one hour.

A Wegmans spokesperson was quoted in the article as saying “it was offering the service to meet customer demand for time.”

This perspective is common as, in an effort to respond to consumer demand and competitive pressure, numerous food retailers have been striving to provide online offerings.

We expect the trend to continue as supermarket chains find new and innovative ways of maintaining customer loyalty.

 

Customer Service, On-line food shopping

Online Store “Made Easy” for Supermarkets

“We make it easy to take your grocery store online,” says Indemand,  a San Francisco-based plug and play platform for building an on-demand store or service.

According to the company website, their platform allows anyone to set up their own on-demand store without the need for any technical expertise. Customers can customize their solution, and also take advantage of a “mobile-first” solution.

While the service is available to “any” type of business, pricing plans for supermarkets range between $149 – $299 per month, plus a start-up fee and a per transaction fee.

 

Customer Service, Grocery shopping trends, On-line food shopping, Supermarket competition

Amazon “Pick-up” Stores Free for Some

According to a recent SupermarketNews article, Amazon has released information about new “click-and-collect” sites in Seattle.

Called “AmazonFresh Pickup,” the new concept will provide a full selection of grocery and household items available for online ordering and pickup, free to its Prime members.

The prototype sites are currently open only to Amazon employees. While Amazon did not specify any time-frames or plans, the article quoted an analyst at Wolfe Research, who said he expected Amazon will open as many as 30 such outlets this year.

Customer engagement, Customer Service, Grocery shopping trends, On-line food shopping, Process improvement, Shopping Experience, Supermarket competition

Service v Price in Supermarkets?

Various articles and reports are consistent: supermarket shoppers want more convenience and better service!

One SupermarketNews article reported how consumer demand for service impacted operations at Meijer and the curbside pickup option it launched in some stores in 2015. The article quotes Peter Whitsett, EVP of merchandising and marketing at Meijer, “…[data] has put a spotlight on the huge demand for convenience, and the challenge for the big retailer to wrestle it economically. As retailers we’ve done a reasonably good job of managing price for products, but what we’re learning to do is managing price for service.”

The piece goes on to explain that Meijer assumed curbside pick-up would primarily serve for fill-in trips, but the company soon realized they “were 180 degrees wrong. Customers said ‘do all my shopping for me.’”

Similarly, Euromonitor International, a world leader in strategic market research, published a white paper “The New Definition of Convenience in Retail,” which indicates that, “Thanks to time-pressed consumers, the need for convenience is paramount and retailers, in all channels, are deploying tactics to get consumers what they want as conveniently as possible.”

Of course, the convenience of online shopping and grocery delivery means different things to different people. For urbanites, many of whom opt to forgo car ownership, transportation to and from the supermarket might be the key issue. Yet for others, as noted above, time might be the driving force.

So, what does this mean for supermarkets?

First, as noted by Meijer’s Mr. Whitsett, supermarkets will need to go beyond managing price and find ways to streamline and improve the work processes for providing added services and convenience.

Secondly, online shopping is poised to become a bigger part of the overall grocery shopping equation going forward, and grocery providers must find ways to compete in this arena – against the likes of Amazon and Walmart, this will not be an easy task!

As noted in an article posted on fooddive.com, “Grocery retail value should be re-framed to emphasize non-price factors such as freshness, quality, customer service and the shopping experience. 2017 could become the year when retailers stop primarily selling products and instead start selling services, solutions, and quite possibly stellar shopping experiences.”

On-line food shopping, Shopping Experience, Supermarket competition

In-store v. On-line Shopping?

33% of all grocery shoppers will shop online this year, according to a recent article posted on retailcustomerexperience.com, which shared data from the 2017 Grocery eCommerce Forecast from Unata and in partnership with Brick Meets Click.

The article notes that ‘egrocery’ is gaining greater consumer attention and 31 percent of shoppers are likely to order online, up from 19 percent last year.

The article also states that seventy-five-percent of shoppers will switch grocers if there is a better shopping experience to be had, and sixty-eight percent of shoppers who had shopped online the previous year are “somewhat” or “very” likely to switch to a grocer offering a better online shopping experience.

However, when looking at retail in total, a Modern Consumer survey shows that fifty-six percent of U.S. consumers prefer a brick and mortar shopping channel, and 93 percent of customer journeys involve multiple channels. The survey, which polled 1,000 U.S. shoppers, also revealed that over seventy-percent browse for products online before buying in a physical store, and only 10 percent of shoppers mainly shop online.

So while it seems that shoppers in general lean more toward the in-store buying experience, many more leverage on-line shopping in advance and an increasing number of grocery shoppers are trending toward the on-line experience, at least some of the time.