Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/769179
FROM THE PUBLISHER The Omnichannel Era SPECIALTY FOOD ASSOCIATION MEMBERS: Discuss this topic in the Solution Center on specialtyfood.com D igital disruption is a fact of life, and no industry is immune. Ask a cab driver. Or a newspa- per publisher. Or a travel agent. Or a bookseller. Food retailing is being disrupted as well, but those who anticipated that pure-play online grocery businesses would quickly supplant physi- cal retail were a bit premature. Chris Crocker Senior Vice President, Content & Media ccrocker@specialtyfood.com Today online shopping is somewhere between two and five percent of all food sales, depending on the report, and it continues to be the fastest growing distribution channel. There's not much doubt that the food industry will be for- ever changed by e-commerce. What's in doubt is how, how much, and when. Except in densely populated areas, home delivery of food is said to be inefficient at current volumes. The grocery store or supermarket, on the other hand, is typically a quick trip for most consumers, and many apparently enjoy the experience. A large—albeit shrinking—population of non- digital natives find online shopping neither convenient nor easy. Some non-adopters are unhappy waiting a day or more for their food to arrive. And others still want to squeeze a melon before they buy it. Food retailers already have the vast majority of their consumers shopping in their stores. Layering on a digital experience, however—for either delivery or click-and-col- lect—is a logical step to serve customers who prefer to order online. And there are many ways to do that. Some retailers Trends in e-commerce, as well as digital marketing, food safety, and operations, are on the agenda for the Specialty Food Business Summit in Chicago, April 2–4. For more information, visit specialtyfood.com/SFBS. have proprietary online order and fulfillment programs, others are partnered with companies like Instacart to support their business. Large chains have made even big- ger bets through acquiring established e-tail platforms, with Kroger's acquisition of Vitacost and Wal-Mart's ownership of Jet.com as prime examples. Even a digital powerhouse like Amazon sees value in a blended click-and-mortar model, as evidenced by its recently introduced pilot store concept in Seattle. For Amazon, experimenting with a physical pres- ence does more than bridge the logistical gap. It provides it a way to introduce traditional food consumers into the Amazon universe. It also allows Amazon to leverage everything it knows about its online consumers to extend what is now a virtual interaction into a deeper, end-to- end experience. Finally, it allows Amazon to conceive and deliver—from scratch—something that seamlessly melds the online food shopping experience into the daily lives of consumers. It's difficult to fight a battle on several fronts but, to reach the fullest population of food consumers today, you need to have a foothold on both sides of the digital divide. WINTER 2017 5