Digital food retail: customers expect more personalization
New research sponsored by precima shows retailers must act quickly to develop a detailed understanding of shopping missions.
The fast-changing dynamics of the food retailing environment continue to challenge companies to keep pace with fast-changing shopper demands. The latest of these shifting shopper requirements involves their behavior on digital platforms and is creating an imperative for grocers to compete across all shopper touchpoints, digital and in stores.
New research conducted by IDC Retail Insights and commissioned by Precima, published in the IDC InfoBrief, Personalization in Digital Food Retail – Shoppers Expect More, casts light on the current state of digital food retailing and what food retailers need to do now to drive success. The research shows that while Amazon.com continues to be a primary disruptive influence in fast moving consumer goods retailing, they struggle with retaining food shoppers. Another opportunity for grocery retailers revealed is that shopping exclusively online is still relatively rare, so optimizing in-store experiences can help retain customers who might otherwise prefer digital options. A recent survey from Food Marketing Institute (FMI) confirms this opportunity, revealing that by 2022 consumers could be spending $100 billion a year on online grocery.
“Retailers have finite resources that are shared among competing merchandising, operational and marketing priorities. They need to make smart decisions about where to invest in digital capabilities and how those capabilities and business decisions fit in with the rest of the organization,” said Brian Ross, CEO of Precima, a global retail strategy, analytics and cloud software company that provides data-driven solutions to retailers. “The successful retailers are rapidly developing and deploying digital capabilities to compete more aggressively. Our new research separates facts from hype and discloses the tactics that are paying off today and will pay off tomorrow.”
“Consumer expectations require grocery retailers to implement new customer experience models and technology architecture,” said Ivano Ortis, Vice President, IDC Retail, Manufacturing, Financial Insights. “Investing in advanced analytics, personalized offers, and localized assortment optimization, while adapting the store format to shoppers’ behavior, will allow grocery retailers to achieve short-term success.”
Additional key findings from the research include:
- 63% of shoppers say personalization is important
- 35% of shoppers will spend 26%-40% of their grocery budget online by 2020
- A Personalized Customer Experience strategy is a clear opportunity for brand differentiation
- Consumers expect a seamless experience throughout in-store and online journeys
- Personalized offers are vital for ecommerce; shopping/wish lists are an opportunity to enhance shopper experience and loyalty
- Retailers expect major disruption in the next three years, from operations automation, retail commerce platforms, and added-value shopper services
The data in the Personalization in Digital Food Retail – Shoppers Expect More InfoBrief comes from a web-based survey of more than 4,000 consumers and 444 retailers in North America, France, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom between November and December 2018.
