Online vs. Store Purchasing
The Grocery Shoppers survey also indicates that the rise of produce sales through ecommerce does not signal the end of produce departments in stores. According to the findings, 68 percent of independent grocery shoppers who purchase online do so in addition to shopping in stores, and over 80 percent of shoppers prefer their local store to an online alternative.
There are, of course, some shoppers who may fully embrace online and rarely venture to a store if the online experience is perfected for both packaged and fresh items. “Grocery shopping used to be a necessary task many people dreaded, but now there are many options including online, delivery, pickup, etc. to acquire these products without the drudgery of going to pick them out at a store,” observes Grinstead.
More likely, however, is the furtherance of shopping both online and in stores. So the question now becomes how will the growth of online shopping change bricks-and-mortar stores, and how are operators preparing for this change?
“A lot of what retailers are doing across the store is trying to engage shoppers and expand the experience, to make shopping fun, which means expanding the footprint,” explains Strapagiel. “At the same time, the focus on online shopping, home delivery, and click-and-collect are about keeping shoppers away from the store and making a push toward smaller stores.” How retailers deal with this duality is key.
Strategy and differentiation
There are a number of options retailers can choose for a bricks-and-mortar strategy in an online world, including a focus on fewer SKUs with an eye toward replenishment between online orders; offering fresh categories with a limited center store; concentrating on basics and competing primarily on price; specializing on a category like organics and providing high quality at a good value; or pursuing the experiential side of shopping with sampling, dining, demonstrations, inspiration, product variety, and community.
“You do miss things online,” concedes Jackson Berkley, like “the fresh smell and sensory experience. The store that masters an in-store experience where you can taste, smell, and see new things can excel as a complement to online shopping.”
“Some stores will be like Whole Foods, Mariano’s, and Wegmans on steroids,” Baker predicts, but notes not all will succeed with such high-end, experience-led strategies. Similarly, not all chains can sustain a limited, low-price strategy of the sort Lidl or Aldi have perfected. Each must pick the best-suited strategies tailored to their specific market and customer base to succeed.
