In the report Digital Food Commerce 2014 (in Swedish) that is presented by Swedish Digital Commerce association (Svensk Digital Handel), it is concluded that grocery sales online keep going strong. Food stores with a standard range has passed the pre-picked food bags in popularity.
A Fist Attempt
I remember when the first attempts with grocery online shopping was made several years ago. Someone at my work who had small children och more than a full time job should give it a try. To make the everyday puzzle add up better. Several was sceptical at the coffee break. Would it be the slightly damaged items at the bottom of the fruit baskets that were delivered, together with a bad piece of meat. But it turned out to be quite the opposite. It was picked and packed directly from the warehouse before every ordinary customer had touched and felt. The things that were delivered was of impeccable quality. The only thing that was not as intended was that one kilo lemons was delivered, instead of one lemon. But it ended up as a nice decoration in the kitchen, and that quantity error was not made again by the customer. Unfortunately, there was no boom for food e-commerce that time, and that specific e-commerce was closed down.
The e-commerce Generation
The customers were not as ready as they are now for that technology. Soon, the ones that are raised with Internet since birth, will shop more and more when they go to work and start families. For them, there will not be anything strange with ordering milk and dinner groceries when they sit in the TV couch. Internet and e-commerce is a natural part of everyday life, and they will not understand why you should drag a far too big shopping cart around the grocery store that is hard to steer, and wonder around the shelves. I asked for pearl sugar in a store that I normally don’t shop in, and was told that it was by the sugar. I felt then and there that it was pointless to keep asking and find it myself.
It Starts now
According to a report written by HUI Research, for GS1 Sweden’s assignment, grocery sales online could be 22 % of the total sales depending on a number of factors in ten years. It would mean higher sales for just the food part, than e-commerce in total is in Sweden today. Several of the factors are increasing, perhaps slow, but still in the right direction. The consumers are more mature in shopping online in general, technology keeps moving forward, and logistics is improving, even if it needs to be better. Pick and handling of the groceries need to be more efficient, smart refrigerators, and more digitalized homes, and cooling possibilities in connection to the homes are some of the prerequisites that are necessary for the grocery e-commerce to have even larger break through. That more actors, Swedish as well as foreign, takes a part of the market is another important factor.
ICA e-commerce near a Launch
It has been a lot of talk of ICA’s e-commerce solution for some time. The new platform is now tested in four pilot stores in Östergötland county. Product range and service can vary when more ICA stores will be connected during 2015. They control prices themselves, and decide if they will offer home delivery, or just pick-up.
I read an article about ICA Norrköp in Norrtälje, that had started out by picking groceries to senior citizens to later develop and make this efficient with Internet. And it turned out to be more than senior citizens that were interested in getting help with grocery purchases. You can choose between picking it up yourself, or having it delivered to the door. They were early in their venture, in order to be available at the market early and creating a loyal customer base.
Time Savings are Important
In a society filled with more stress, we choose to spend less time in the things that we don’t need to do by ourselves, and pay someone else to do it. Time is also money, has never been more true. Time savings is one of the things that is said to be most important in the report about Digital Food Commerce. And isn’t that what e-commerce is about, making people’s everyday life easier.
