Photo: Getty Images/PonyWang
Do grocers need a fresh approach to boost online sales of meat and produce?
Online grocery shopping remains popular with customers, even if some surveys show a slight reduction in the use of the service since its peak of adoption early in the novel coronavirus pandemic. But when it comes to shopping for perishables online, a new survey finds that many shoppers still say, “perish the thought.”
More than half of shoppers (54 percent) shop for meat, chicken, or fish primarily in physical stores, according to a PYMNTS survey. Nearly as many customers (53 percent) shop for fruit and vegetables primarily in-store. These categories are much more frequently purchased in-store than others, with only 44 percent of customers purchasing most of their food in-store today. On the opposite end of the spectrum, only 35 percent of customers buy paper products and cleaning supplies mainly in physical stores. Only 27 percent of customers purchase pet food mainly in physical stores.
Shopping in-store for meat and vegetables allows customers to assess the quality of products on-the-spot, rather than depending on the opinion of a shopper from Instacart or another service picking an order. It also prevents customers from worrying about products going bad in a warehouse or being damaged during shipping or delivery.
Before the pandemic-era spike in e-grocery adoption, perishables were posing a pain point for grocery pick-up and delivery services.
In 2018, Walmart patented a solution called “Fresh Online Experience,” according to CB Insights. The system described in the patent would allow customers to order a perishable item in-store via mobile or web, at which point an in-store picker would use a 3-D scanner to take a 360-degree image of a real-life product and send it to the customer. The customer could then either accept or reject the item within a fixed amount of time. It is not clear if the solution was ever piloted.
In January 2023, online grocery was down 1.2 percent year-over-year, according to data from Brick Meets Click. Ship-to-home experienced the largest drop, with 10 percent fewer monthly active users using such services than in 2022. The number of online grocery orders has been slowly trending downward since hitting a peak in May of 2020.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Does the need for speed make it difficult (nearly impossible) for stores to pick fresh meat and produce that will meet the quality standards of online grocery customers? Are there ways for food retailers to overcome the quality control concerns customers have over picking and delivering fresh meat and produce?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Ken Morris
Managing Partner Cambridge Retail Advisors
Andrew Blatherwick
Chairman Emeritus, Relex Solutions
This is part trust, part shopper habits, and part logistics challenges. Shoppers are used to interacting with staff in the deli, pointing to choice cuts and trying slices of cold cuts for free. There’s simply no way to replicate that online — until we can beam a slice of thinly sliced roast beef via a teleporter. The virtual shopper approach (which is what part of the Walmart patent sounds like) would mean a deli worker would be waiting on remote customers and in-person customers back and forth. Not easy. Then there’s the cold chain. So if Walmart patented its “Fresh Online Experience” in 2018 and, with all its resources and ability to test, didn’t roll it out during the peak of COVID-19, then it must have been a non-starter.
I believe we discussed this topic sometime ago but I will say what I said then — I am just picky when it comes to choosing meat or produce items and I am not comfortable that the associate will 100 percent know what to pick, even if I describe what I want. I think it would be cumbersome to photograph a meat or produce item each time for customer approval. I can see this getting tiresome if I am buying a large amount of produce or meat items.
I believe most think like you, Richard. This is not something a simple photo image and a 3D scan will solve. Customers prefer selecting their own fresh meats, seafood and produce.
My grandfather owned a very successful meat company selling to large B2B customers as well as walk-in retail customers. Every Saturday morning, my dad would take me to the store and I’d get a chance to look at all the cuts of meat, the sausage grinder, talk to all the associates, etc. It was fascinating and I learned a thing or two about the type, quality and cuts of meat. I’ll never order meat, fresh fruits or vegetables online for delivery or pickup. I want my eyeballs on these items while in-store to inspect size, quality, freshness, etc. Even with today’s super video/camera technology, it’s nearly impossible to replicate the same experience one has while in-store.
I think it’s less about the “need for speed” and more about shopper preferences and culture. I had a discussion with an executive from Northgate Markets in Southern California recently and their online presence is minimal as he said, “No Hispanic mother is going to allow someone else to pick their meat or produce.” I don’t think the percentage of shoppers preferring a third party to select their meat/produce will ever reach the levels of say, dry goods. However if 54 percent prefer to select their own, that means 46 percent are OK with third parties selecting — which is not bad.
Perishable perimeter categories are tricky for stores to pick. Consumers expect both speed and quality, and often disagree with the store’s judgment.
To earn trust, grocers need to consistently pick quality fresh items. Reliable processes can make e-grocery shoppers so enthusiastic that their rave reviews attract more shoppers.
Meat and produce are unlike most items in a grocery store. They are more subject to personal taste (no pun intended). Ignoring cost, in most cases visual appeal is the one of the dominant factors in selecting items in either category. I see no way to accurately convey that via description or even with a photo. What constitutes overly ripe bananas to one person is likely to be far different for another.
It is only natural that consumers want to look at and inspect fresh meat, fruit and vegetables. Why would you trust someone you have never met to choose them for you? I am not sure that even real time cameras showing me these items would convince me to buy online. Perishables are also a good traffic builder for grocers to get customers into stores which is no bad thing. There are items for online and there are items for in-store purchase — don’t try and drive customers to do things they do not want to do.
I’m an apple-a-day guy. I like my apples sweet and crisp. Yet too often when I ordered them via e-grocery, they arrived mushy and tasteless. Inedible. So they were deleted from the online shopping list — as was anything that could be brought fresh.
Solution? I don’t think there is a good one. Everyone has a different idea of what is acceptable when it comes to fresh food. Walmart’s “Fresh Online Experience” is a convoluted idea. Who wants to stand by at home while waiting for the picker to communicate?
This is a tough hurdle to overcome without a solution.
We can make this ultra-easy if we decide the answer to the second question is “no,” can’t we? Meat and produce, unfortunately for online vendors, suffer the usual problems of commoditized goods, with their own complexities thrown in for bad measure.
Produce, Meat and Seafood have been notoriously “high touch” products in grocery, customers assigning great care in variables, using their senses to make decisions.
Today’s attempts with photos, 3D tech and friendly 3rd party shoppers won’t change habits. The best chance at change would be dramatically advanced tech to help customers see multiple package options from afar, then singularly up close, then let them compare expiry dates, weight, color, shape, texture and final retail prices.