Online Grocery Affects In-Store

A Supermarket News article about in-store design caught our eye recently. The premise of the article was that many of the items currently stocked in grocery stores will inevitably be sold online, so stores had better get ready and make some radical changes. We have been talking about the inevitability of online grocery for some time now, and it appears that we aren’t the only ones feeling a sense of urgency.

Thom Blischok of Booz & Co. made a presentation at the Food Marketing Institute entitled: “Tomorrow’s Trends Delivered Today: Store Design Trends — The Path to 2025”. In it he urged grocery retailers to accept that the “traditional center store” products will be shifting to online sales, and due to this retailers need to have a “dramatic rethinking” of store design.

If “center store” products will no longer be stocked in stores, but sold only online – what should retailers do with their brick and mortar stores?  Right now 80% of grocery stores are devoted to merchandise, while 20% is focused on services.  Blischok says that needs to change. He states: “By 2025, retailers can expect as much as 30% to 50% of the store to be in a broad range of services, such as ready-prepared food bars, doughnut hole bars, fresh pastry bars, and in-store training and education about nutrition and cooking.”

Additionally, grocery retailers need to prepare for the new digital landscape, by making sure their online presence is just as effective as their in-store one. Clavis can help. Clavis eCommerce insight is designed to audit and analyze brands’ Digital Presence & Performance at leading online stores in order to remain competitive in the new digital landscape. The insights are delivered in an easy-to-use comprehensive dashboard of audits and analytics giving brand owners a clear picture of their brands’ Portfolio, Placement and Integrity. Learn more about Clavis Technology today – watch our 3-minute video here (http://www.clavistechnology.com/ecommerce-insight-video/)

Source: Clavis Technology (http://goo.gl/u2LDKw)