Innovating Grocery Retail: Differentiation in the Digital Age

It is going to be essential for grocers to differentiate themselves from competitors when it comes to digital transformation. In this age of being able to easily purchase items online, we are already seeing initiatives like digital coupons, personalized ingredient suggestions for meal recipes, recommendations based on past purchases etc. This helps increase customer loyalty through online store apps.

We are also seeing an increase in health and sustainability awareness in the buying habits Gen Z/millennials shoppers. Grocers need to be able to provide more organic produce options and ecofriendly products at competitive prices. Packaging waste should drastically reduce and could in turn decrease costs and carbon footprint as well. Theft prevention is also important and has to be managed without adversely impacting the customer experience. Store layouts (positioning high risk items in visible locations) and technology (video surveillance/alerting systems) should be used more often.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation (robotics) will play a bigger role not only in grocery stores but also in fulfillment centers/DCs/warehouses to automate inventory management and optimize inventory levels. Faster fulfillment and shipping out of orders will be possible with the correct automation and use of data. Delivery would be the other area of differentiation – the use of delivery drones for fast delivery and a smaller carbon footprint. This is one area where more innovation will be required for safer delivery.

Smitha Raphael

Chief Product and Delivery Officer, SnapFulfil

07/14/2024 20:58:06

Winning Back Customers: Blending Value and Convenience in Grocery Retail

Randy Crimmins, President of AisleOne, Mercatus

To differentiate themselves from the competition and win back their market share, grocers need to do two things: adopt and adapt.

Consumer behavior is being increasingly driven by convenience and value.

Customers are feeling the financial pinch of inflation, higher interest rates, and general economic uncertainty. As a result, we see a drive to value through both cross-shopping numbers and the increasing market share of larger retailers (offering lower prices).

At the same time, the stabilization of the eGrocery market at a significantly higher rate than pre-pandemic suggests that customers have grown accustomed to the convenience that comes from shopping online.

This should prompt grocers to adopt value and convenience into their core service offering. However, the grocer’s traditional high-touch, high-level in-store service shouldn’t be abandoned. Instead, it should be adapted to become part of the digital experience.

The best, most cost-effective, efficient way of adopting and adapting is by utilizing technology to provide contextualized commerce to consumers. That means enabling a holistic digital experience based on what matters to each individual shopper and timing these experiences to their specific shopping cycles.

This level of predictive personalization is relevant, seamless, and connected to both online and in-store commerce. Adopting the most important consumer drivers and adapting the traditional service strength of grocers so that it fits the digital experience.

The result — a blend of technology and tradition — is an overall service offering that larger retailers simply can’t match.

This study was conducted in Fall 2023 as the fourth annual installment of a grocery ecommerce study that Ipsos has conducted since 2020. This study was designed to differentiate between three different fulfillment methods of obtaining grocery orders: In-Store Pick-up, Curbside Pickup and Delivery.

The approach was 2-pronged:

Step 1: Ipsos conducted a 7-minute survey of 1,200 Americans to understand which elements of grocery pick-up and delivery are most important to consumers. The survey was conducted October 25, 2023. A Key Drivers Analysis was conducted to identify the top drivers of “Likelihood to Use Brand Again for grocery ecommerce” using Ipsos’ proprietary Ipsos Bayes Net (IBN) modelling technique.
Step 2: Ipsos then deployed their panel of trained mystery shoppers to measure brand performance across a specific set of elements related to grocery pick-up and delivery. Roughly 33 mystery shops per method (In-store Pick-up, Curbside Pick-up, Home Delivery) were conducted for each qualifying retailer. Retailers were only shopped for methods they offered, so in some cases sample was redistributed appropriately across offered methods. Geographic representation was ensured across 4 regions (West, Midwest, Northeast, South). Mystery shops were fielded between October 23 – November 17, 2023. The relative importance of each service element ascertained from Step 1 was applied as a weighting factor to the Mystery Shopping results.

For a full copy of the results or to participate in Ipsos’ next ecommerce study (coming Fall 2024), contact Silvana Daehn at silvana.daehn@ipsos.com.

At Ipsos Channel Performance, we partner with our clients to understand their shoppers and how they shop. We measure the execution of brand promises. We drive compliance and sales conversion. We improve performance across all sales and service channels – physical, contact center, and digital – and help deliver profitable growth. Learn more.

Contact: Silvana Daehn

Email: silvana.daehn@ipsos.com.

Adopt and Adapt.

07/14/2024 20:58:06

Maximizing Profit Potential with Innovative In-Store Fixtures

Grocery Operators strive to maximize the profit potential of every square foot of their store. One of the biggest challenges in the grocery retail industry is the production time to execute the potential of the store layout. Building new in-store fixtures is an ideal solution to maximize the profit potential of the store, but this inevitably takes down time to build and creates a major inconvenience for shoppers who want to avoid construction zones. In this fight against innovation, construction time and maximizing profit, KPS Global has developed a product to resolve this tension. Taking the concept of traditional walk-in coolers and freezers where panels are used for cold but using them in a non-traditional way. INSTAWALL™ can be used as an alternative to traditional construction methods and used for a building alternative to traditional store fixtures, like creating a prepared food island on the store floor. Pre-planning for electrical and plumbing makes this a game changer. New in-store displays can now be erected overnight while customers are not in the store. So, the store will open the next morning with a new, functional and enhanced storefront. KPS Global understands the obstacle of evolving to meet consumers' needs while striving for a cost-effective and seamless transition to meet the goal. INSTAWALL reduces consumer strife and construction timelines while simultaneously maximizing profile with a clean updated look for the store layout.

Rob Sorba

Chief Commercial Officer, KPS Global

07/14/2024 20:58:06