The supermarket industry has undergone massive change in 2020. Retailers are focused on convenience, as shoppers demand contactless grocery services like curbside pickup and home delivery. But what are the costs of this convenience? Benjamin Lorr, author of The Secret Life of Groceries, joins The Digital Grocer podcast to share his insights from research in the field.

Sylvain and Mark kick off the episode by covering the latest news in grocery. Canadian retailer Metro has announced a new investment of $15M to build out dark stores. Loblaws will be testing autonomous vehicles in partnership with Gatik. Meanwhile, Kroger is building their 10th CFC with Ocado, furthering their investment in efficient fulfillment to improve eCommerce profitability.

As we consider the massive investments made in eCommerce and offering essential online shopping services in 2020, Benjamin critiques the core driver of eCommerce: convenience.

“I think that anyone who looks at the grocery industry for even half a moment sees how much energy is going into making things convenient and efficient...A lot of the most negative consequences that I came around up to totally exploited labor...But it's all driven by an incentivized system where the people... they're working so hard to get an edge in their own niche that these are ripple effects off of it.”

Just how far can the race to convenience go? Mark notes, “Amazon's built Prime on the basis of convenience and you can see this brinkmanship when it comes to between Walmart and Amazon, get it in two hours, get it in one hour, get it in 30 minutes. How fast is fast enough?”.

Tune in to the full podcast, where we discuss more supermarket industry insights and secrets uncovered in Benjamin Lorr’s research for his latest book. 

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Dave Abbott, CMO at Brookshire’s Grocery Company, joins the Digital Grocery Podcast to share eCommerce lessons across multiple retail verticals, from apparel to home improvement, to now grocery. What element has remained true across each vertical? The brick-and-mortar experience is still key.

Sylvain and Mark begin by covering the most recent news in grocery and big tech. Notably, Amazon’s new Shopper Panel, where they offer compensation to shoppers for submitting receipts, to collect t-log data on their competitors.

As we consider how other verticals relate to grocery retail today, Dave joins the conversation. He notes a common thread in certain verticals, where eCommerce represents a small percentage of sales, but websites are vital to the product research and decision-making process for shoppers.

“The website is an enabler and information provider for the grocery store, just like it was in home improvement. So in that regard, it's actually very similar.

When we look at our investments from a marketing perspective, we have to think about, holistically, what is the end to end journey of that customer, both interacting with the store and the website, and make our investment decisions accordingly.”

When asked what is central to the online shopping experience, Dave explains why it can’t just be about convenience.

“You don't get that excitement when you get the box on your front door. It commoditizes the whole experience, if you will. And I think the brick and mortar experience done well is still going to be a center of attention.”

The pandemic has certainly had major impacts on the grocery industry. As a retailer serving shoppers across Texas, Dave shares the importance of offering an essential service at this time.

“You would be shocked about how many letters we received say, "You're lifesavers." And they really mean that. It's not like, "Oh, you saved me a dollar on my purchase," that you're a lifesaver. No, they literally feel that we're making them safer.”

Tune in to listen to the full podcast, and hear more lessons from Dave Abbott on eCommerce success factors across multiple verticals.

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This episode, food retail’s tech giant takeover is on our minds. Is Silicon Valley going to save grocery retail or take it over completely? Sylvain and Mark consider what factors will impact grocery retail survival past the pandemic, as tech giants navigate the space.

Three Factors Impacting Food Retail Survival

The food retail industry is continually adapting to changes caused by COVID-19. Sylvain notes three important factors that will have lasting impacts on grocers, beyond the pandemic:

“And my fear is you're going to see an increase in bankruptcy in grocery retail, in the smaller tiers where they weren't ready for e-commerce, they may have lost... So, they succumb to the three variables.”

AutoStore vs Ocado

Sylvain and Mark go on to discuss the implications of the latest AutoStore lawsuit against Ocado. Will this block expansion of Ocado in North America? Would that block impact both Ocado and AutoStore’s business opportunities with grocers looking to scale their eCommerce with MFCs and CFCs?

Amazon’s Stake in SpartanNash

With Amazon’s opportunity to acquire 15% stake in SpartanNash, we’re raising the question of what this means for grocery retail. Amazon has a habit of acquiring businesses to learn, perfect, and then build their own. Are they using Spartan to build their own fresh and frozen distribution centers? Will they use SpartanNash to figure out private label and how to build brand trust with shoppers?

“There's a lot of great Silicon Valley companies that are coming to the rescue of retailers to support them with true partnership and so on. But there are those like an Amazon that's just going to come to the table to crush and to dominate. Amazon, could they survive the trade down and trade out? I think 100% because they have other assets that can fund their grocery business to nauseum.”

Tune in to the full podcast for more on the latest trends to watch in food retail, as consumers, retailers and tech giants navigate this evolving market space.

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Shopper Behavior has been fundamentally changed by the pandemic. Big moves by Amazon, Walmart and H-E-B are examples of how some retailers are responding to market demand. But are these moves right for every grocer’s business? Our survey with research firm Incisiv revealed the key factors that determine retailer banner loyalty for 60K grocery shoppers across the US.

Sylvain and Mark kick it off with a discussion about Amazon’s new brick and mortar stores, equipped with contact-free and seamless checkout technology. Countering Amazon, Walmart announces their launch of Walmart+ and we consider why data might be driving their interest in socialmedia platform, TikTok:

“It's been reported that a strong percentage of the TikTok users actually have an Amazon Prime account...it would give Walmart a big plus in what they could do with the data and being able to market to a consumer base that I don't think normally shops at Walmart.”

H-E-B’s new partnership with Swisslog marks their first investment into Micro Fulfillment Centers (MFCs), powered by AutoStore. As retailers consider MFCs for their businesses, Sylvain suggests looking at these criteria:

As of 2020, eGrocery’s New Reality is: accelerated growth, well beyond pre-pandemic estimates. Projections from our survey data estimate online grocery will account for 21.5% of total grocery sales by 2025. It’s clear that shopper behavior has fundamentally shifted.

“What we realize is that from collecting data from 60,000 shoppers, a very small subset of people will go back to shopping in store.”

When it comes down to what key factors determine lasting shopper loyalty to their local brick and mortar store, it’s all about convenience: proximity, value & product selection.

Sylvain notes just how much convenience impacts shopper loyalty. “When I talk to consumers who don't know what I do for a living, don't know that I work for Mercatus, they're new to e-commerce, the reality is after their fourth experience, it's extremely sticky. And the main driver is guess what? Convenience.”

Learn what grocery shoppers today value in their online shopping experience. Listen to the full podcast for more insights and download the report.

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Rick Watson on why Walmart joined the Instacart Marketplace

Autostore’s Andrew Benzinger on Grocery Micro Fulfillment

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For our first episode of season 4, Rick Watson shares his insights on why Walmart has joined the Instacart Marketplace. What does this say about Walmart’s position in the market? Is this a response to Amazon? Rick, Sylvain and Mark consider these questions and how this move will impact other grocers listed on the Instacart Marketplace.

Hosts, Sylvain and Mark begin by considering recent key trends in grocery. The surge in eCommerce is easing off, shoppers continue to buy their groceries online. DoorDash has entered the space, offering last-mile grocery delivery and now their own direct-to-consumer convenience option, DashMart. Sobeys alsolaunched their new online grocery service, Voilà, which has stepped up the game in Canadian grocery.

When asked why he thinks Walmart has joined the Instacart Marketplace, Rick shares three hypotheses:

Sylvain adds to the list, noting Walmart’s competitive advantage on price in the marketplace, and their need to scale delivery because of Amazon’s delivery route density.

The pandemic has pushed retailers to adapt and change to meet the new reality of grocery, Rick Watson notes that more could be done. “We definitely do see the importance of direct to consumer increasing, but it’s still slower than you would think. Even with the acceleration in the pandemic, of buyer behavior.”

What can grocers do to fortify their businesses, with a potential second wave of COVID-19 on the horizon? Tune in to the podcast for more insights from Sylvain, Mark & Rick

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Join us on Tuesday June 16, 2020 for a webinar where we’ll share insights and takeaways with David Bishop from Brick Meets Click on Grocery Pandemic Trends. Register to save your seat today.

In our season finale, we’re joined by David Bishop from Brick Meets Click to talk about grocery pandemic trends in eCommerce. Central to our discussion are the findings from the May 2020 Brick Meets Click/Mercatus shopper survey. With online grocery sales growing 23% from April to May, reaching a record $6.6B in sales, it’s clear that adoption of grocery eCommerce is here to stay. 

Sylvain and Mark start by considering the significant events impacting the US, and the world, these past few months, weeks and days. 

With the immense shift that COVID has brought to the retail industry, Sylvain notes the importance of investing in digital commerce.

”When you think of the pandemic, retailers that rely on the exploration aspect of people coming into their stores, if they're not reinventing themselves, it's going to be a challenge.”

As shoppers continue to make more purchases online, David notes the household penetration of grocery eCommerce since COVID: a staggering 33%, at 43 million households across the US. 

So where should retailers invest to increase eCommerce adoption? David suggests curbside grocery pickup. 

“When we get into delivery, it tends to skew toward older consumers or wealthier consumers. The pickup tends to skew towards the lower income households, and that has implications for what we’re now dealing with. And one more reason why we believe pickup is going to see a second surge from what we saw a year ago, as we deal with the financial calamity that is coming out of this health crisis.”

Tune in to the full podcast and register now for the webinar on June 16 to hear more insights from our CEO Sylvain Perrier and David Bishop from Brick Meets Click on grocery pandemic trends. 

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This podcast, we're talking about grocery micro fulfillment with AutoStore Business Development Manager, Andrew Benzinger. What are micro fulfillment centers (MFCs)? How can they help you get groceries into your shoppers’ hands faster? We’re answering these questions and more!

Andrew talks about how MFCs improve the shopper experience. Not only can they make fulfillment faster and more efficient for online orders, but they can also improve the in-store shopping experience for customers. A common issue for shoppers is congestion in-store from the increased number of pickers, especially from third parties.

“How do we solve for that? One of the ways that we do is with an MFC is being able to remove most, if not all, of those pickers out of the store entirely, allowing those customers that do want to shop, without green shirts in the store, to have a really positive experience. I mean, think about a number of regional grocers, or even Whole Foods 10 years ago, they had beer taps and glasses of wine walking around the store. Pretty hard to do when you're bumping into third party shopping groups, or even your own shoppers clogging up the aisles. It's a long way from that elevated experience that a lot of people are trying to accomplish.”

How have retailers using grocery micro fulfillment solutions been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic? 

Andrew shares how AutoStore clients have seen unprecedented growth:

“The volumes are through the roof, and we're seeing a few grocery companies, as early as last year, plan for three, five and 10% growth, and they hit that in the first day of March, which is pretty crazy.”

Listen to the full interview to learn about how your business could benefit from grocery micro fulfillment with Autostore.

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Remarkable Retail will be available in stores and online for purchase on April 14. Order your copy now!

This episode we’re talking about Remarkable Retail, a new book by retail industry expert, Steve Dennis. We’re joined on the Digital Grocer Podcast by Steve himself, to talk about how retail leaders can win and keep customers in the age of digital disruption.

We consider what shifts have happened in retail that have led to digital disruption. But while digital commerce has been widely adopted, Steve notes that retail success lies in both digital and brick-and-mortar channels. 

“A lot of eCommerce works really, really well and you don't necessarily need a brick and mortar presence to make that happen. But shopping is inherently more experiential and that's what brick and mortar really, really excels at...very few customers are purely channel specific in their behavior. Digital drives physical. Physical drives digital. There's a ton of research that supports that now.”

And that success is tripled when these channels are thought of as one whole customer experience. 

“Digital channels actually drive three times as many brick and mortar sales as they do sales that are transacted in the online channel. You just really have to think of digital as a way to engage with the customer. Some customers will choose to transact online. Some customers will use the digital channel to inform which stores they choose to go to, whether they buy online, pick up in store.”

So what can leaders do to create a Remarkable Retail experience that builds shopper loyalty?

“Ideally, which is like literally what I mean by remarkable in the book, people will talk about you. What are those things that the customer really cares about that creates a story for them that they will ideally share with others?”

To learn more about how retail leaders can create Remarkable Retail experiences, tune in to the full podcast.

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This podcast, we learn how Raley’s responded to crisis, in the wake of COVID-19. From new store policies on social distancing to contactless grocery pickup and delivery, Zac Wilson (Manager of eCommerce at Raley’s) shares how grocers can adapt to increased eCommerce demand from this pandemic.

Zac shares the many ways in which Raley’s responded to the Coronavirus outbreak, including: 

One of the impacts Zac notes, was a need to adjust their roadmap, “The concentration has been fully on the customer experience and team member experience. So we've ramped up all of our production around increasing capacities for the pickers and the associates inside the store on their devices. And then at the same time, also increased the capacities on our white label solutions and our vendor servers. So with the increase in volume, the one thing that we wanted to make sure that we didn't have happen is have the website crash or have our delivery partner, their systems crash as well.”

We asked, what advice would Zac give to other grocers responding to COVID-19?

You need to, “prepare yourself, your teams to understand that we have to continue to build for what's coming and also take care of our team members, take care of our customers, and most importantly, take of your families. So it's great right now that everybody's putting in the time and the energy, but at some point everybody's going to get rundown. So make sure to take care of yourself and then just continue to plan for what this looks like because we imagine coming out of this on the eCommerce side, our new runner rate being double what it was coming into it. So this is really the pivotal point in which customers are now going to choose to use that option more than they did before.”

Listen to the full podcast to get a retailer's perspective on handling the COVID-19 outbreak, based on how Raley’s responded to crisis.

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Blog: Surrounded: Growing threats to traditional Grocery Retail Industry

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COVID and grocery eCommerce is today’s focus on the Digital Grocer Podcast. With widespread impact on the grocery industry worldwide, we’re addressing the important questions surrounding this pandemic: what is COVID-19? How has it impacted grocery retail? And why should retailers invest in owning their eCommerce experience now?

Mark and Sylvain start by considering the progression of the viral outbreak, and response from the population and governing bodies over the past two months.

As the population is encouraged to self-isolate and practice social distancing, we're seeing a massive spike in adoption of grocery eCommerce. "On the Friday, in three of our markets...we had in the space of 20 minutes, 10,000 new accounts being created."

The uptick in online registrations will empower retailers to grow their eCommerce, but not if they have outsourced their eCommerce to a delivery-provider marketplace.

“If you're a grocery retailer and you're not invested in owning your platform, guess what? You've accelerated someone else owning the relationship.”

In anticipation that COVID-19 sales will be short-term and costly for retailers, retailers need to capitalize on increased eCommerce adoption and increase profitability of this line of business by taking ownership of the eCommerce experience.

“So I think if you're a retailer, and you're not invested in owning the relationship and building out your platform, trust me, this is something that you need to be extremely mindful of. This will be the new normal...There's no avoiding it at this point in time. Now is the time to actually plan and solidify that strategy.”

Discover what we learned are the three vital parts of grocery eCommerce you need to own today, from experiencing the Coronavirus outbreak.

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