Consumer have embraced e-commerce and groceries shopping is no exception. According to Nielsen, one quarter of groceries shoppers already order groceries online and more than half are willing to do it in the future [3]. This has been impulse mainly by Millennials and Generation Z, who have little time and preference to avoid time-consuming chores and prefer to invest their time in meaningful experiences.<\/p>\n
This trend is not exclusive of developed economies. Emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific and Latin America are avid for e-commerce, more so than Europe and North America. For example, while 66% of shoppers in Asia-Pacific are willing to use virtual supermarkets such as Amazon Fresh only 46% have the same interest in Europe [4].<\/p>\n
However, consumers have not migrated massively to groceries e-commerce without concerns. Old habits die hard and groceries shopping has been for decades a sensorial and social experience [5]. People are more likely to buy non-food products (beauty, cleaning products) online than fresh food. Shoppers fear receiving fruits and produce they would not have chosen had they been in the store, and smelling a freshly baked apple pie is not the same as seeing one through the Instacart app. In addition, most online shoppers have also felt the unpleasant experience of late deliveries or receiving products that don\u2019t exactly match the online description of the products.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wi-Fi in Aisle Four<\/strong><\/p>\n To avoid extinction, groceries retailers have started to create a new retail experience for the future. Considering both the willingness of consumers to switch to online shopping and the resistance to shop certain products on the web, retailers are transforming their operation to give the customer the best from their brick-and-mortar stores and the online environment. Under this new approach, retailers are creating an \u201comni-channel\u201d [6] experience where consumers can transfer between digital and physical channels of the company according to their preferences and the type of purchase [7].<\/p>\n Coop, in Italy, worked with Microsoft and Intel to create the brick-and-mortar store of the future. Introduced at the Expo Milan in 2015, Coop\u2019s new store model relies <\/p>\n It\u2019s still premature to know which of all these innovations will become mainstream in years to come. Some technologies might work in some markets but not in others. The experience of the music industry, with many promising devices and applications now extinct (think Rdio\u2026) may give an example of what will happen in retail. However, there\u2019s little doubt retailers must keep investing to adapt to the changes in preferences of consumers while still respecting old shopping traditions. It\u2019s a matter of survival.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Word count: 772<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1] \u201c15 most memorable companies that vanished\u201d, NBC News, http:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/41027460\/ns\/business-us_business\/t\/most-memorable-companies-vanished\/#.WC5-IvkrIhc<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [2] \u201c8 iconic brands that have disappeared\u201d, Fortune, November \u00a09th<\/sup> 2014, http:\/\/fortune.com\/2014\/11\/09\/defunct-brands\/<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [3] Nielsen, \u201cThe Future of Grocery\u201d, April 2015, https:\/\/www.nielsen.com\/content\/dam\/nielsenglobal\/vn\/docs\/Reports\/2015\/Nielsen%20Global%20E-Commerce%20and%20The%20New%20Retail%20Report%20APRIL%202015%20(Digital).pdf<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [4] Ibid.<\/p>\n [5] McKinsey & Company, \u201cFinding your digital sweet spot\u201d, November 2013, \u00a0http:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/business-functions\/digital-mckinsey\/our-insights\/finding-your-digital-sweet-spot<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [6] McKinsey & Company, \u201cRetail 4.0: The Future of Groceries in a Digital World\u201d, https:\/\/www.mckinseyonmarketingandsales.com\/sites\/default\/files\/pdf\/Future_of_grocery_in_digital_world.pdf<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [7] Boston Consulting Group (BCG), \u201cThe Digital Future: A Game Plan for Consumer Packaged Goods, \u00a0https:\/\/www.bcgperspectives.com\/content\/articles\/digital_economy_consumer_products_digital_future_game_plan_consumer_packaged_goods\/?chapter=2<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [8] Tom Farre, Tesco\u2019s Retail Bet: All-in with Digital, CA Technologies , August 13th<\/sup> 2014, \u00a0http:\/\/www.ca.com\/us\/rewrite\/articles\/application-economy\/tescos-retail-bet-all-in-on-digital.html<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [9] Accenture Consulting, \u201cCoop Italia: Transforming the customer experience with Supermarket of the Future\u201d, https:\/\/www.accenture.com\/us-en\/success-coop-italia<\/a>, Accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n![\"tesco-660_012715012420\"](\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/tesco-660_012715012420.jpg\")
<\/a>Two retailers have started to work in how the supermarket of the future might look like. Tesco, a global retailer based in the UK, has invested\u00a0heavily in technology development, including a new 3000-worker development center in India. Tesco\u2019s shoppers can now order their products online and pick them up in most of their UK stores. In Seoul, consumers can shop w\u00a0ith their smartphone from a virtual store in a subway station or a bus stop and then select if they want to pick their products at a real store or pay for a delivery service (see images). The company is also using shopping pattern data at their stores, obtained from their loyalty program, to select the best product-mix for each store [8].<\/p>\n<\/a>heavily on technology to create a personalized shopping experience that resembles the town market experience decades ago[9]. By just looking at a product, consumers get detailed information of it in screens located nearby including \u201cingredients, origin, carbon footprint, and wine pairing recommendations\u201d [10], creating an experience that is more than just a chore. All of this is possible thanks to motion sensors, like those found in an Xbox, located through the supermarket. The sensors help identify which products the shopper looks and selects, also helping Coop to keep an instantaneous inventory of the products on the shelves [11] More information about Coop\u2019s proposal is available at http:\/\/supermercatodelfuturo.e-coop.it\/eng<\/a>.<\/p>\n