How Market Predictions Went Upside Down

The Food Marketing Institute and Nielson have estimated that online grocery sales would reach $100 billion by 2022 in North America. Yet, the US digital grocery sales grew exponentially by 63.9% YoY by 2020 to reach $122.39 billion by 2020 itself and it is expected to grow further 12.3% in 2021, and it will be doubled to $243.67 billion by 2025. 142.9 million consumers in the US, equal to 51% of the US population have purchase groceries digitally in 2020.

Digital Grocery as a Global Phenomenon

Several emerging Asian markets including China, Japan, and the countries of Western Europe, including the UK and France have an impressive track record of providing efficient GCommerce services to customers. While 78% of online grocery retailers experienced a 102% increase in web traffic in the UK, 48% of consumers in France are buying groceries online. 

Differences between Online Grocery Sales and Digital Grocery

Is promoting or purchasing grocery online and digital grocery the same? Surprisingly, it is not. Selling groceries online using an eCommerce site involves product selection, purchase, and checkout, after making the payment. Whereas, digital grocery encompasses the entire digital environment, including but not limited to; Omnichannel strategies of the online grocers to reach the end purchasing point, websites that cater to the purchasing needs of grocery buyers, sites and apps that meet personalized recipe needs of consumers. It also includes social media feeds and stories on food and grocery, promoting digital grocery shopping through sales, discounts, coupons, and competitions.

How does it work

Technological breakthroughs are instrumental for the exponential growth of digital grocery. Unlike traditional eCommerce retailers that sell grocery online, players of the modern-day GCommerce use analytics and measurable tools to trace customer information, including their location, stores around them, grocery available in those stores, and the delivery mechanism to reach them. They apply this information for developing effective strategies to reach them with personalized messages as stories on area-specific food the consumers eat, including recipes, and eating preferences, influenced by the seasonal variations and culture. 

GCommerce is nourishing content and platforms surrounding the food the customers eat

Traditionally food magazines and online websites like Bon Appétit and NYT cooking have served content using text and images, following certain specific norms. Popular chefs of the prestigious restaurants of international reputation made their presence to deliver content in mainstream media like TV. 

Online platforms like YouTube and TikTok have completely revolutionized the content publishing on food. Publishers at present are monetizing the data they extract using analytical tools to dish out delicious recipes using streaming, videos, and short videos to drive digital commerce, like ads, sponsorships, endorsements, influencer marketing, and virtual food festivals. Home cooks as food critics and expert food makers are uploading user-generated content to attract the audience to buy products and services while delivering content on cooking.

Albertsons Inc., an American grocery company, for example, is planning to launch a shoppable video with content around recipes and meal preparation, using foods that are on its shelves by brands it supports. It aims to connect retail stores, CPG marketers, and clients with recipe tips through shoppable and video streaming.

A Great Shift from Ecommerce Grocery to Digital Grocery

There was a drastic shift in consumer behavior during the COVID-related pandemic shutdowns, leading to a complete disruption of the market scenario and on-store grocery shopping. Several bricks- and mortar shops had to invest heavily towards complete digital transformation to meet the growing consumer demands. 

From a mere 4% of consumers purchasing groceries online, more than 50% of the consumers started searching online for groceries. According to a July 2021 Inmar Intelligence survey among 1000 American consumers, 87% of them have purchased retail goods online and 50 to 75% of these purchases were grocery and 19% of the consumers have gone 100% online for grocery purchases. Mobile or in-app grocery shopping is on the rise among 25% of the respondents, purchasing at least 75% of their monthly grocery, while 20% of them making 100% grocery shopping using a mobile phone. 

Factors that Prompted Customers to Prefer Digital Grocery

Consumers that have shifted to buy online grocery is not willing to return to in-shop buying during the post-pandemic period when markets get reopened for reasons like;

• 28% of the shoppers would like to continue buying online, as it is very easy and convenient for them to purchase groceries.
• They can save time, sitting at home, browsing their mobiles to make a purchase. Offers like free delivery of the first purchase and discounts on purchases made are also attracting customers towards digital grocery.
• Digital grocery shops are offering great product variation that is not available in their favorite retail stores or supermarkets.
• While 28% want to continue buying groceries online for its easy checkout and payment process, 19% like the product selection online. 

Retail Digital Grocer’s Response to Changing Consumer Behavior

Not all the traditional retail grocers of the US were ready to meet the growing consumers’ demand for serving online grocery, as they were lacking logistics, and funds to establish infrastructure. Very few online retail giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Kroger have made efforts well ahead of the emerging market demands for online grocery shopping. While Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017, Walmart purchased Flipkart for $16 billion by 2018, and Kroger has expanded to 1,900 pickup locations for online orders. Walmart is expected to surpass Amazon in the US digital grocery market in 2021, comprising 7.5% of Amazon’s online retail sales and 50% of Walmart’s digital retail sales.

As consumer demand for same-day delivery raises, several Delivery intermediaries including, DoorDash, Instacart, Kroger, Shipt, and Uber have emerged. The majority of bricks-and-mortar stores that have entered the online grocery business have made arrangements with third-party services for speedy delivery. Those that are unable to invest in logistics have relied on third-party sources like Instacart to fulfill deliveries. In 2020, grocery sales through third-party delivery services were 215%, accounting for 39% of grocery delivery eCommerce sales and delivery intermediaries have earned $27.81 billion in revenue, up from $8.80 billion in 2019, and it is expected to fetch $68.24 billion by 2025.

Trends that Digital Grocery promoted

• Click and collect models, where customers buy online and collect at a point of their preference.
• Meeting the last mile delivery.
• Picnic, a Netherland-based supermarket, for example, has revolutionized digital grocery with 14 deliveries per hour.
• Alibaba’s Hema app delivers grocery and cooked food within 30 minutes to its customers.

The Future of Digital Grocery

Although digital grocery sales comprise 4% of the entire retail eCommerce volume at present, more than 50% of digital grocer buyers are fueling it further by constantly researching for products online, seeking advice, and gathering inputs, according to Deloitte’s “Grocery digital divide survey, 2018.” These informed customers are expected to drive a 23% increase in transactions and a 36% increase in basket size. Customers that are accustomed to the ease-of-buying goods online will continue to sail with it, inspiring others to drive further online grocery buying.

Final Thoughts

Grocery shopping online has taken the world by storm and people continued to buy online even after the post-pandemic market revival. Factors like increased social media promotions, user-generated shopping experiences, emerging food media that serve highly personalized content, using a story-telling approach, the emergence of modern technologies, and the evolving market to facilitate speedily, home delivery is all set to take the digital grocery to the next level.

The post Tracking Emerging Food Media and the Evolving Global Digital Grocery Trends first appeared on Publir.

Understanding New-age Social Media and Various Ways to Use It

In an age when we are saturated with information, how do you make your product stand out, without hard-selling it? How do you stand apart from your competitors, each of whom has an almost identical marketing strategy? Thankfully, the advantages of social media aren’t just restricted to its advertising capabilities. There are many ways to use social media besides direct advertising. Here are a few – 

For Social Selling

Being full of vendors, social media platforms are now slowly morphing into shopping sites too. And unlike your regular eCommerce sites, here people air their grievances on the brand page itself. Hence it is very important for a business to have trained sales reps who maintain active brand profiles, build trust, forge partnerships, and foster relationships with the company’s clients online. Only then can they expect to make more direct sales off their page. For instance, if you are a consumer looking to purchase a TREK bicycle off the company FB page, you could try interacting with them on messenger. If TREK’s marketing strategy is good, they should have someone on the other end who can help you make a purchase on the TREK Facebook page itself. Brands should also not shy away from giving away freebies or discounts or even loyalty points if customers make purchases online. 

To Build Goodwill 

Nothing helps more in the digital age than word-of-mouth. Social media is full of people making recommendations about products and services. As a brand, social proof is a great way for boosting conversion rates. Testimonials, reviews, and more go a long way. Social media is a goldmine for this because customers and brand advocates are usually willing to support the brands they love. There are many social listening tools and sentiment analysis methods that crawl social media looking for conversations or mentions regarding your brands and keywords related to them. Once you find some positive reviews, you can always take screenshots of them to put on your landing page on your website, to build goodwill among those who visit your website. 

To Create a Brand Story to Attract Consumers 

Story sells and is a  great way to build a steady audience, but brands must take care not to sound preachy. As a brand, your main objective is to capture the audience’s attention. Whether you want to be informative, inspirational, or impart education is up to you. For example, Nike. Since 2018, it’s had 318 social media profiles online and counting, and is one of the most followed brands online. Its content is inspirational and revolves around a certain lifestyle and way of thinking. This drives people to Nike’s philosophy, and consequently to its stores and products. At the same time, Nike pulled all its products from eCommerce stores and started retailing directly from its website. This helped the brand funnel its most important customers right where it wanted them. Today, Nike’s Facebook page is a hub for its online presence and activities. Apart from being a normal fan page, it has customizable tabs linking directly to its Instagram page and a support page. Other links take users to Nike’s website, and there’s even a ‘Shop Now’ CTA button that takes users to a store. 

To Provide Excellent After-Sales Service

The good and bad thing about social media is that grievances can be aired immediately, and they can spread quickly. Since 50% of customers buy from companies that they think provide good customer service, it’s important to ensure that testimonials spotlight this. As mentioned earlier, a sales representative to help drive sales is great but what if someone isn’t happy with what you’ve provided? Even a huge company like Amazon has employees on its social media handles, combing comments and helping consumers. This is what makes a big difference in helping current customers bring in new ones. If you are sloppy with after-sales service, an unresolved complaint can quickly snowball into something untoward, as various brands have unfortunately learned over the years. Even the smallest gesture matters. Like this instance of a steakhouse giving a customer a free surprise meal, something that would’ve gained them a lot of goodwill. 

To Connect with Influencers

Today every dollar spent on influencers has a return on investment of more than $5. People look up to celebrities and personalities, making marketing easier with the right connections. For example, NBA and NFL athletes in the USA are widely followed across all social media platforms, and some of them are influential voices across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Many of them do promotional posts for brands for a fee. However, you don’t always need to shell out a top dollar in every case. People also heed the advice of local influencers, as they believe that such influencers may have a genuine interest in the product that they’re reviewing. In any case, if you have a brand that manufactures sports hydration drinks, you have the option of doing a post with a pro athlete and spending thousands of dollars or roping in a local influencer for a slightly lesser amount. 

Final Thoughts 

In conclusion, everything your brand does on social media does not necessarily have to be an ad. While marketing budgets and ad spends are no doubt important, it is also vital to build a brand ‘presence’ online. Your brand needs to have a ‘personality or a ‘voice’ that attracts people. Read this blog about the evolution of content marketing, to get a clear idea of how to make a great content strategy and reach out to your audience. 

The post Top Ways to Leverage Social Media Outside of Advertising first appeared on Publir.