The growing digital transformation has been evolving rapidly among companies across the market and affecting not only people's consumption habits, but also setting trends for retailers and industries seeking business innovation.

This technological movement is strongly related to the perception that traditional strategies in sales models needed innovation, making the market realize the importance of the multichannel concept and the advantages of investing in online channels.

With this, new consumer trends have gained attention in several areas, generating opportunities for various business models and market niches, such as industries and the Supermarket and Drugstore niches that are commonly associated with traditional sales channels, but that are moving quickly to digital.

In this article we will be able to better understand the Supermarket niche in the face of digitalization, what the expectations of consumers are, what the expectations of consumers are, and what the expectations of consumers are.In this article we will learn more about the supermarket niche in the face of digitalization, what the consumer expectations are, and how supermarket companies can overcome the technological challenges with new solutions and automation in their business strategy.

The new consumer in the digital age

With the global events of the last two years, the consumer experience has developed much faster than expected. Brand interactions and shopping experiences have taken different directions than they used to.

By 2022, an Accenture survey recorded that 50% of global consumers say that the pandemic has made them reevaluate their purposes about what's really important, harkening back to different aspects of how we lived, worked and shopped just 2 years ago.

In a highly competitive marketplace, personalized personalized service has become synonymous with customer loyalty. 72% of consumers who have reevaluated their purchases say they expect the companies they do business with to understand and address their needs more attentively.

While 50% of these people point out that numerous companies have let them down by not providing immediate attention, support, and understanding to their needs during the hardships of the pandemic.

In the video above, we can understand more about the difficulties that isolation and restrictions brought to people.

Although each consumer has gone through their own experiences and hardships, the agreement that integrates the deeper considerations of shopping have become more recurrent.

With the digital transformationWith digital transformation, many consumers have become more attentive not only to the purchase items, but also more demanding of the model that will provide the complete experience.

Omnicality has become indispensable, gaining more and more prominence to to strengthen the relationship between online and offlineomnicality has become indispensable, gaining more and more prominence to tighten the relationship between online and offline, enhancing the experience of the consumer who is gradually looking for faster, safer, and more convenient shopping options.

This trend is an evolution of the multichannel concept. With omnichannel it is possible to integrate physical and virtual and virtual stores, and explore the possibilities also in other channels such as mobile applications, social networks, and several others.

Read also: The importance of integrations for omnichannel strategies

It is important to adapt not only in moments of crisis, as it happened in the pandemic. What is correct is to say that it is necessary to innovateand omnichannel is all about strategy to rethink your businessthinking about customer satisfaction.

With this, it has become increasingly clear the need to need to migrate or expand business to the digital environmentenvironment, reinforcing strategies of Customer Experience strategies in the name of innovation that will bring more satisfaction to customers.

Thus, supermarket owners found themselves faced with a new challenge: to conquer the Grocery e-commerce. Grocery e-commerce.

Grocery Companies and Digital Innovation

Known as e-Grocerye-commerce for supermarkets has seen assured growth in recent years. In 2020 alone, it was recorded that purchases through digital channels in this niche grew by 180%.

With the uncertainties of social isolation, major brands have ventured into the online food and beverage market.

A great example is Mercado Livrethat started to offer the Grocery option. This influence was responsible for the change in relation to e-commerce for supermarkets.

On Black Friday 2021On Black Friday 2021, the most prominent sector was also the Grocery, reaching the 80% of sales made at the event by Mercado Livre. This percentage also represents an increase of 540% in the volume of orders in the category.

On the event date, there was a 13.3% increase in delivery's compared to the average of previous Fridays. And this increase compared to 2020, was 5.6%, as we can see in the data collected in the Black Friday 2021 Report, conducted by All In.

Also read: The expectations for Black Friday 2022 and how to prepare your e-commerce for success

This rapid shift in digitization has made it necessary for supermarket owners to to learn more about e-commerce and how to develop integrated value that can act with the consumer's consumer needs while projecting profitability.

The operation of the e-Grocery happens by being connected to the physical stores that restructure their business modes, being able to attend also the digital world. The order is made online, entering the system that sends the client's list to an attendant who will search for the products that have been chosen.

In a research by McKinseyresearch, it was found that consumers began to seek a new model of lifewhere they can be healthier and save money.

This proves the need for digital integration that can help supermarket owners highlight their business, personalize promotions, and engage consumers in a more meaningful way.

Consumers looking to make food and beverage purchases through digital channels represent more than half of the U.S. population, prompting Amazon a open dozens of new "Amazon Fresh" stores Amazon Fresh" stores, which offer the possibility of ultra-fast shopping.

Whether online or in delivery, digital shopping orders placed through any online channel-from desktop and mobile device to apps and voice assistants-are on track for increased revenue in the face of major digital changes.

Even if adoption is still slow, digital consumers are only increasing, making e-grocery a great potential to sustain the market with bigger budgets. It is estimated that by 2025, the average annual spend by shoppers in this niche will increase from US$856.47 in 2021 to US$1,524.84.

It is expected that retailers and delivery companies will realize the effect of e-grocery, gaining a higher percentage of online sales, even with the insulation restrictions removed. The "click-and-ticket" functionality will also take on a different meaning, serving as an entry point for merchants who have not yet looked to invest in delivery models.

Giants like Amazon and Walmart are willing to invest in membership programs as a result, triggering subscription benefits and discount incentives. The focus of this strategy is to pay greater attention to customer loyalty.

While this is the essential way to embrace digitalization in the supermarket e-commerce niche, it is important to also understand that there are numerous challenges to conquering this strategic solution.

Today, companies with long-lasting products such as clothing or electronics have already been able to embrace the digital environment, but those selling food and beverage products remain tied to the physical channel.

There is also the case of Marqueo, the largest 100% digital supermarket in Latin America, which arrived in Brazil in 2021, starting operations in São Paulo and the metropolitan region. The app brings together more than 4,000 products, from hygiene, grocery, wine cellar, etc.

Learn about some challenges that the grocery industry may face in Digital

One of the big factors that add challenges to the entry of digital innovation in Supermarkets, is the custom of stocking a diverse range of products, where most of them are food and perishable products.

Besides being sensitive to time and storage conditions, food products are often sold with many different options.

Some products are sold by weight rather than by piece, and their condition also varies from day to day. Just think of the ever-changing nature of an avocado or a banana, and many of the challenges of selling them online become apparent.

Because of this, waste becomes a critical issue for companies embracing digital transformation. The problem can be solved simply, with an efficient inventory management system. Supply supply systems just-in-time supply systems integrated with supermarket inventory management APIs can minimize inventory costs to some extent.

Another very common challenge is precisely the absence of technologies that can manage inventory and business. It is important to customize the system according to your e-commerce needs, after all, there is no single solution that can cater to all.

O mobile grocery delivery application improves efficiency by leveraging important features of mobile hardware, such as geolocation, and more.

Thanks to the pandemic, the adoption of app usage has grown by leaps and bounds. According to the 42nd edition of Webshoppers, a report on e-commerce by Ebit|Nielsen in partnership with Elo, 72% of consumers now prefer delivery apps during insulation.

With this, supermarkets became the segment that recorded the largest inflow of new shoppers, reaching 14% of new stores.

Still, it is difficult to maintain product quality, delivery time, and cost, especially when customers show an increasingly demanding behavior. These are critical factors that impose a major challenge to intelligent logistics.

Given the evolution in consumer behavior, it is important to also invest in marketing strategies - only then will it be possible to succeed in highly competitive environments.

This marketing planning will also be responsible for improving the customer experience.

Another perfect scenario to adding value to the consumeris the moment an order is placed. It may seem trivial, but delivering the item of value to the customer demonstrates care in the operation, however, there are times when an item may be delivered by mistake, or received in the wrong manner or size.

In this case, the challenge to be overcome is to understand how to make the reverse logistics process profitable, managing resources such as refunds, order cancellations, etc.

We can already see that the biggest challenge to understand digital innovation in grocery companies is technology. Especially when we think that this industry is responsible for finding huge peaks in commemorative dates.

The volume of digital consumers that has been growing in recent years proves that it is impossible to be 100% confident with the infrastructure of your online store. It is therefore important to ensure that the structures are technologically prepared to offer the same quality and stability, regardless of how many people visit the store.

To do this, it is necessary to demystify the idea that only internal structures can solve an unexpected change in demand, and understand the advantages that an external technology provider can bring with the help of a SaaS model.

Conclusion

Finally, we can conclude that digitalization has become a major highlight in the market, bringing numerous benefits and challenges in the name of innovation.

When we think about the new demands of consumers, who seek faster and more adequate answers to the digital moment, we realize that it is impossible to see digitalization far from any niche - especially the supermarket one.

The multichannel strategy has been gaining more and more prominence in moments where digitalization is explored, as it is now. The omnichannel concept has brought endless possibilities in the name of offering the best shopping experience to the consumer.

It is worth remembering that e-grocery is not only about selling, but also about focusing on the customer, offering the best buying journey in the consumer's daily life.

Because of this, supermarket e-commerce has been conquering space, offering ease for consumers who seek modernity in their daily lives.

Even with countless challenges, it is possible to realize that this is a new vertical of the digital market, and that success can be achieved with the use of a good technological tool that sees the importance of the consumer in the priorities.

Learn about Codeby's services

Codeby is a company specialized in technology that seeks to transform the shopping experience in the digital channels of our clients.

We have been in the market for over 7 years, changing the reality of large brands through customized technological solutions for online store environments.

We have been for 4 years among the MVP partners of the VTEX platform, besides being important partners of platforms like Shopify and LINX, with certified professionals in all these technologies.

Learn more about our services by visiting our website: https://codeby.global/