Omnichannel grocery: a grocer’s guide to staying competitive

A strong omnichannel grocery strategy involves creating a consistent brand experience across channels. You want e-grocery customers to feel like they’re getting all the benefits that in-store customers enjoy, with the added perk of convenience. Four main objectives can help you achieve that:

Customers shouldn’t have to sacrifice product choice if they’re shopping from the couch rather than the aisles. Do your best to ensure that online customers have access to the same product selection as those who show up in your store. That can mean:

• Use proper packaging. Make sure you invest in the right packaging to include fresh goods like deli items and salads in pickup and delivery orders. You don’t want a preprepared item to be squished in transit, and items that need to stay warm will benefit from insulated packaging.

  
  

• Offer fresh and bulk product options. Use tech that enables customers to select items priced by weight, along with those that have a set price. That ensures that they can still purchase their favorite products in the bulk and deli sections.

  
  

• Expand product selection. Make sure you have enough SKUs to provide customers a strong selection, even when items run out. A customer won’t mind encountering an out-of-stock message as much if they can replace the item with something similar from another brand.

For some customers, the loss of control is a concern with online grocery shopping. They may want the convenience, but they don’t want to lose options in the process. To give e-grocery consumers more control over their experience:

• Allow substitution selection. Let customers choose which items they want substitutions for. Even better, allow them to select their preferred alternative for any out-of-stock items.

  
  

• Enable closed-store shopping. Expand when customers are able to place and receive orders. If customers can place their online orders at any time and schedule pickup or delivery for later, it makes grocery shopping easier to fit into their busy lives.

  
  

• Provide order tracking. Offer live order tracking for delivery orders so that customers can follow their deliveries in real time. That way, they know exactly when to expect them.

Depending on the tech you use, online orders can be fulfilled by your staff or by couriers who shop for and deliver orders. You want to manage order fulfillment in a way that lets both groups work efficiently without disrupting in-store customers. A few smart strategies for that include:

• Optimizing your store design. How you organize your store affects how quickly couriers can find items for online orders. Consider devoting a section of the store to some of the most popular delivery items for easy access.

  
  

• Updating employee training. Train employees in the most efficient strategies for finding order items quickly without getting in the way of customers.

  
  

• Adopting mobile barcode scanning. Mobile scanning technology makes it easy for shoppers to scan items as they find them, simplifying the work involved and improving accuracy.

  
  

• Using item substitution technology. If you give customers a way to choose their preferred substitutions for out-of-stock items, you can improve their satisfaction with online orders. At the same time, it can make the process of preparing orders easier on staff, since they don’t have to spend time trying to identify a good alternative.

Whether customers place orders through a third-party app or on your own channels, give them choices they’ll appreciate. These are some common delivery options:

• Scheduled delivery. Most customers can’t afford to wait around for a long, unpredictable delivery window. Scheduled delivery ensures that orders arrive when customers are there to receive them, and it gives your staff more opportunity to plan ahead.

  
  

• Same-day delivery. Offering customers the option to receive an order later that same day—even if you charge an additional fee for it—can improve their experience with your brand and keep them coming back.

  
  

• Express delivery. Occasionally, a customer will need their items even faster than your typical same-day delivery speeds. Express delivery gets orders to customers in an even shorter time frame—usually within an hour. If your staff lacks the ability to fulfill orders this quickly on your own, partnering with a third-party delivery platform can give you the means to do it.