Digital shopping is a constantly-evolving concept in today’s retail industry, especially when it comes to food retail. From omnichannel and mobile offerings to pure-play e-commerce and delivery services, grocers are finding that making digital part of their business models is a necessity.
The Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen teamed up to explore this digital turning point of the food retail industry in a report released earlier this year. It’s been more than three months since SmartBrief explored the findings of the report. How has our news coverage in our food and beverage newsletters reflected these findings?
Covering the digital food shopper
The report found that today’s digital food shoppers are always connected via mobile and other channels. They are constantly looking to engage with the companies they do business with across many channels, and when it comes to grocery shopping, they have come to expect offerings including mobile coupons and usable apps.
From Pepsi’s strategies on social media platforms including Snapchat to the mobile shopping habits of Generation Z, news about the connected food shopper has gotten significant coverage in our briefs:
- Pepsi debuts new flavor with Snapchat codes
- Gen Z goes mobile before going shopping
- Rewards app Shopkick gets into the grocery game
- Coca-Cola debuts mobile payment, loyalty platform in 50,000 vending machines
- Brown-Forman’s mobile location strategy pays off twice
- Drinks app Hooch uses data to connect with drinkers at critical moments
Sharpening the focus on grocery e-commerce
According to the FMI-Nielsen report, food retailers are strengthening their efforts to get a clear picture of today’s digital grocery shopper, who is young, engaged and efficient. While retailers struggle to find their sweet spot when it comes to targeting digital shoppers, they are testing different technologies such as location technology, ordering buttons and data and analytics, all while keeping transparency in mind.
Over the last few months, SmartBrief’s coverage has included several news items about how food retailers and brands are tailoring their e-commerce efforts to better target today’s digital shopper:
- Albertsons exec sees excitement in grocery’s digital potential
- FreshDirect among retailers turning to chatbots for digital orders
- Are Amazon Prime members the key to grocery e-commerce?
- Report: A hybrid strategy might work best for grocery e-commerce
- Search algorithm helps boost online wine sales
- Is automation the key to AmazonFresh’s success?
- Experts advocate greater e-commerce focus for candy, snacks
- Grocers try to bring impulse buying to e-commerce
Painting a picture of the state of digital integration in grocery
In the end, the report found that there is no secret recipe to integrating digital shopping into the food retail experience. Every retailer and brand must find their own balance between physical retail and digital retail, and discover what omnichannel experience works best for their business.
SmartBrief’s coverage of food and beverage news continues to highlight this aspect of the report, with grocers and CPG brands innovating and exploring omnichannel retail in new ways every day:
- Utah grocer Macey’s cuts checkout with new app
- Will Coca-Cola’s targeted in-store ads hit the spot with shoppers?
- Wal-Mart recruits employees to deliver online purchases
- Amazon aims to win grocery sales with hybrid models
- Supermarkets get serious about grocery delivery
- Grocers go omnichannel to digitize in-person food shopping
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