• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

M Source Ideas

Schedule a Free 30-Minute Consultation

  • HOME
  • SERVICES
    • Omnichannel Marketing
    • Positioning & Brand Strategy
    • Business Development Strategy
    • Competitive Analysis / Market Intelligence / Economic Trends / Feasibility Studies
    • Messaging & Copywriting
    • Digital Marketing
    • Campaign Management
    • For Foreign-Based Consumer Companies
  • INDUSTRIES & EXPERTISE
    • Omnichannel Retail
    • Non-Commercial Foodservice
    • Travel Hubs & Airport Retail
    • Hotel Industry
    • Other Retail Channels
  • CLIENT WORK
  • BLOG
  • RESOURCES
    • Books & eBooks
    • Video Library
  • ABOUT
    • Lionel Binnie, Founder & CEO
    • Speaking
    • Publications
  • CONTACT

Foxes, Hen-Houses, and other ECommerce Fables

December 28, 2021

Over 20% of Grocery Retail is likely to move online by 2026 according to a recent Supermarket News article.  That’s big news, but equally big is that the vast majority of online grocery shoppers prefer click-and-collect over home delivery.

Seventy-six percent of respondents said they favor in-store (44%) and curbside (31%) pickup, compared with 24% preferring delivery. Consumers don’t like to pay for home delivery, would rather pick-up.

Problem is, grocery retailers’ profitability for even these click-and-collect orders is small, 9% gross margin, on average.

I’m Getting to the Foxes Bit…

For retailers, there is naturally an increasing discomfort with using third-party platforms, like Instacart (A Fox).  In another study Supermarket News cited, over 80% of grocery retailers believe using 3rd party companies will sever their relationship with their customers. They are concerned that third-party platforms will insert themselves into the relationship and become the de-facto e-commerce brand.  Uh, yes!

Same goes for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and GrubHub which are all vying to be your ‘local restaurant’ for… ‘everything’.  

That was the ENORMOUS… did I mention, CATASTROPHIC…mistake Borders, Circuit City and Toys R Us made, over a decade ago; giving their e-commerce to Amazon to fulfill. Talk about letting the fox in to watch the hen-house ☹!!!

It seems like grocery retailers are going to need to figure out how to offer online, click-and-collect more elegantly and profitably; Micro-fulfillment centers attached to stores that automate pulling online orders quickly may be a solution but are a significant capital outlay (read more about micro fulfillment centers, here).  But these types of solutions may be ‘table-stakes’ (minimum industry requirements) going forward, though.

Share the knowledge

You might also like:

  1. The New Role for Stores in an Omni-Channel Era
  2. 2 Ways Local Grocery Retailers Can Compete in Omnichannel
  3. What Do You Want to Do about Dinner?
  4. 4 Great Omnichannel Retail Service Providers

Filed Under: Food & Beverage, Marketing Insights, News/Blog, OmnichannelNext: The 4 Purposes Retailers Must Choose from to Stay RelevantPrevious: The 5 Stages of Growing a Food and Beverage Business

Primary Sidebar



Get in touch with us!











FREE PDF DOWNLOADS

  • A Quick-Guide to Airport Retail
  • Let’s Do Lunch: An Intro to Noncommercial Foodservice
  • The Business of Higher Education in the US: An Introduction

Footer

About Us

Lionel Binnie, Founder, M Source Ideas

Over two decades spent solving hard, B2B marketing problems in the food services and consumer products space.

Learn more about us and our founder.

Follow Us

Featured Client Case Study

foodservice go to market strategy for maury's hive tea

This innovative company developed a proprietary concept that incorporates honey crystals right in the bag along with high-quality, black or green, whole leaf teas.  MSource assisted with Maury’s branding as well as their go-to-market strategy for both foodservice (college and university) and grocery retail. We also helped them with their trade show and conference strategy, B2B […]

Read More Case Studies

The Latest from Lionel’s Blog

What Type of Marketing Software Do You Really Need?

Copyright © 2023 M Source Ideas · 4200 SW 107th Ave, #104, Beaverton, OR 97005. | (503) 985-6464 | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Sitemap