Growth of e-Grocery Shopping

We live in a time where everything is constantly changing, and the pace of the change is becoming ever faster. The digital transformation is changing our everyday lives, but more importantly, it’s causing big industries to fall and new ones to rise. However, there’s one industry that’s going to persist through it all, making only small changes: the grocery industry. It doesn’t seem like humankind will stop eating in the foreseeable future. The demand will never decrease, and since the population will only grow, the request for grocery shopping will grow as well.

We are all aware of the fact that grocery shopping is shifting from physical to digital. The pace of the shift had been relatively slow compared to other retail branches, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in demand for e-grocery shopping. According to BBC’s article, Google searches for “food delivery” hit a record level in April 2020. The term “food delivery” may seem a little too broad, but the same article states that “veg boxes” were looked for six times more in 2020 than a year ago.

That’s not all; according to M Science, purchases of online groceries peaked during the week of April 21, when weekly dollar sales surged as much 289 per cent compared to 2018. You can see what kind of a difference it made from the chart below.

Considering all of these facts, it’s now or never for all grocers to join the digital revolution. The shift from conventional to online shopping was already inevitable, but now that the first-time consumers experienced this new and convenient way of grocery shopping, an online option is now a must for every business in the market.

Yes, the digitalisation had been happening at a slow pace, and there were reasons for this. The main reason the transition had been happening slower than other markets is the consumers’ desire to handpick their own greens, dairy, and meat. Another challenge for big stores that offer a convenient online grocery shopping platform is the reluctance of the older generation. According to Forbes, the younger generation of consumers is more likely to adapt to the more convenient way of shopping, while the case is the opposite for the older generation. It seems like it’s a matter of trust, but convenience, quality, and pricing are also essential. Yes, online grocery is profitable, but only through maximum operational and marketing efficiency, as stated in McKinsey’s report from 2013. Today, the market is more adaptable to the online transformation, and we know more about what works and what doesn’t. With the right approach and marketing moves, it’s easier than you think to solve the trust problem. Thankfully, we have the tools.

What Customers Want: A Unified Shopping Experience

Here at Ubimecs, we have partnered with CarrefourSA, one of the biggest supermarket chains in Turkey, and have been using their unified online shopping platform since 2016. Every day, we are gathering more information and insight on how we can enhance the platform, and if you’re looking for help, we have solutions for your problems.

With a unified shopping platform, you can offer your customers many conveniences at once. You can even reach the older generations that dislike online shopping. Since your online platform includes up-to-date prices of all of your products, they’ll have somewhere to see the details of products before taking a trip to your stores. Another plus for the conventional shoppers is the “Click & Collect” feature that lets your customers collect their online orders from the store at their convenience. So yes, in a time of transition, the only way for an online platform to work seamlessly is to fuse it with the offline experience. We all know that people love going to grocery stores, and the online option is only here to make the process easier for them, and eventually more profitable for you.

What You Can Do With Ubimecs Q-Commerce Module

As we mentioned above, we have been actively working on e-grocery solutions for almost half a decade. Therefore, we’ve come across many scenarios to be improved for both the customers and the grocers. Today, we are able to build all-inclusive e-grocery platforms catered towards chain stores, supermarkets, DIY stores and more. Here are some of the top examples of what you can do with the Ubimecs Q-Commerce Module.

It’s faster-to-launch and more affordable than you think

Since we already know the basic principles of an online grocery platform, we can build what you need faster than you think. The other good news is, our platform is cost-effective, so you don’t have to tighten your budget. We offer a fully-automatable platform, so it’s another win-win on the budget front.

Know your customer profile

One of the biggest markets of today is the data market. Companies are spending great deals of money in order to gather accurate data about their target audiences and customer profiles. At Ubimecs, we know that personalisation is one of the most essential ways to reach your audience. Therefore, we’ve built our Ubimecs Q-Commerce Module with the abilities to track customer behaviours to create offers catered towards their shopping patterns.

Stay up to date

We are always adding new features to Ubimecs Q-Commerce Module, so you can customise your app with the tools you need. In today’s world, everything needs to be fast. Since agility is a must-have for every company, we’ve built our platform’s UI customisable without the necessity for an update. There are many tools you can add to your online platform for a more modern and convenient experience, including Siri and Google Assistant.

Reach your customers from every channel

A website alone could have been enough when you thought about online grocery shopping a decade ago, but today, everything is shifting to mobile. Considering this, you need to offer your customers an omnichannel shopping experience. With Ubimecs         Q-Commerce Module, you can reach your customers wherever they need; whether it’s a website or a multi-platform mobile application.

To learn more about our c-commerce module, you can check out our website. We are sure that you’ll find what you need. To book a meeting or speak to an expert, you can fill out the form here.