The growth of online grocery stores has reached its highest level, especially last year because of the rampant restrictions and lockdowns due to Covid-19. Also to this isn’t a surprise given the rise of convenience-based apps and the gig economy. But is shopping for food online all it’s made out to be? Like anything else, you must decide for yourself whether the pros outweigh the cons.
Apart from the pandemic, the convenience and increasingly personalized experiences you get when shopping online have long been appealing to consumers.
Here are some people who vouched for more online than going to the physical store:
“With one in four consumers purchasing food online, a growth of 61 percent from last year.” According to the same article, consumers say they’re shopping online for groceries for four main reasons:
- For the convenience (41 percent)
- They prefer not to go inside stores (40 percent)
- They just hadn’t thought about it before (20 percent)
- This helps with weekly meal prep (15 percent) – via ncr blog
With these, here are some reasons why online grocery is beneficial.
Though many Foodtown locations offer home delivery, many customers forgo the extra few hours of leisure time that it provides simply because they’re unfamiliar with the advantages of online grocery shopping. Here’s a closer look at the benefits you can experience.
- It can save you a lot of money. As you may already know, buying in bulk is a great way to cut your grocery costs. However, many shoppers avoid buying in bulk because it means taking up extra cart space and navigating the weight of bulky packages.
- Online shopping for home delivery makes buying in bulk much easier—simply add bulk products to your virtual shopping cart and they’ll be delivered right to your doorstep.
- Cut Gas and Parking Costs. Choosing to shop online for delivery means you can avoid putting extra miles on your car, as well as saving on gas and parking charges. While these savings may not seem drastic in the moment, over the course of a year they can certainly add up.
- Shopping online means no queuing at the checkout to pay, no parking hassles as you search for a space in the shopping mall car park, and no negotiating with the in-store crowds if you have to shop at peak times.
Save time from making multiple trips
Forgot to add an item to your virtual shopping cart? No big deal. With online shopping, you can add items to your cart, even after having made the purchase, up until the day of delivery to your home. That means no more treks back to the store for that single item you forgot.
Browse in the comfort of your home/time
Whether it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon or 4 o’clock in the morning, online shopping allows you to browse the aisles when it is most convenient for you. Though you will have to be present when the groceries are delivered, you can choose a delivery time frame that is most convenient for you.
Has door-to-door delivery
Most online grocery stores offer either same-day delivery or a choice of one or two-hour next-day delivery slots. This is great for busy people who don’t want to have to stay in for hours waiting for a delivery.
Open with selections
No store wants unhappy customers complaining about having received poor quality goods; that means extra work for their customer complaints department. They, therefore, aim to only send the freshest produce out on home delivery orders.
Key takeaway
The pandemic seems to have sealed the eCommerce deal and that includes grocery shopping—which means how consumers get their groceries has forever changed (there will not be a return to normal). So, is that a good thing?
For all of the benefits for grocery store operators and consumers, the answer is large yes, thanks to more revenue and growth opportunities for grocery store owners and more convenience and choices for consumers.
