What Are the Benefits of Online Grocery Shopping - Essay Example

The Benefits of Online Grocery Shopping Details: al Affiliation: The Benefits of Online Grocery Shopping That the consumers’ growing interests of pointing and clicking their way through nearly all aspects of daily lives at the touch of a button is fuelling the 21st century internet economy is not any secret to the business world. With the development of online marketing and related services, areas that were once the sole domain of traditional businesses like the grocery stores are growing thinner every minute. And as the mechanics of globalization continue to revolutionize the many aspects of human life, service-providers themselves have seen it fit to capitalize on the ever advancing technology, in effect, tapping into the hitherto idle markets to enlarge their market share. In between the fundamental objectives of enlarging their market visibility is the need to meet the consumer requirements, and so was the very genesis of online shopping. Grocery stores, for instance, have taken the advantage afforded by technology, “raking in roughly $15 billion a year — about 3 percent of brick and mortar supermarkets’ nearly $600 billion sales” (Williams, 2014). Williams further notes that the industry is expected to grow at approximately 13 percent per annum, ‘making up 11 percent of all grocery sales in the next decade. Indeed there is no doubt that the ever increasing use of the Internet has more than transformed shopping experiences with quite a huge chunk of benefits that has enabled the cutting down of costs on both ends of the consumer and the service providers (Appelhans, et al. 2012; Shannon & Mandhachitara, 2008). More and more businesses are warming up towards greater use of the internet as the ultimate marketing channel that is both unique in very many, but certain aspects that includes convenience, real time feedback, as well as the ability of extreme comfort, and so are the opportunities offered by online Grocery stores. Any serious entrepreneur knows for a fact that time in itself is but a precious commodity, and so with regards to shopping in particular, time has that tremendous capability of significantly altering shopping behavior. Indeed it the very levels of time pressure that allow the service provides to group consumers as well as service specific target markets along this dimension. Besides the time pressure, the online Grocery stores have long known that impulse are involved in in the purchase of food products and that the consumers’ effort in searching and processing related information concerning food products should be at the very bare minimum, for time-pressured consumers strive for efficiency at best. In an era of stiff competition, that has seen technology employed in every aspect of service and/or product delivery to the ultimate consumer, online Grocery stores have done more than what it takes to understand the customer satisfaction needs and loyalty, in effect, laying information at their hands and/or building structured relationships with them as they look into greater horizons. Unlike the traditional physical shopping, the 2st century Web technology has more than enabled reaching the consumers in dispersed geographical locations very easily and in real time, in effect, saving enormous amount of time in searching for information and the ultimate purchases at the grocery stores (Bellman, et al., 1999). Online grocery stores operate 24 hours, 7 days a week. Unlike the traditional shopping environment, therefore, shoppers can window-shop on the relevant websites, and amass as much information as possible without the pressure any food product. Accordingly, consumers have that rare opportunity to buy or carry out transactions at any given time of the day and/or of the week; an experience that was but nonexistent in the traditional physical shopping experiences. Online shopping affords the very convenience of shopping from the comfort of one’s own home; online shopping is hassle-free, for it has done away with the traditional queuing system that was not only cumbersome and tedious, but time wasting and costly at best (Haubl & Trifts, 2000; Karayanni, (2003). The fact of the matter is that online shopping has basically removed the traditional worrisome opening and closing hours, for the online grocery stores are always open. Consumers with very little discretionary time for the time consuming physical shopping experiences such as those working long hours during the day and those with a number of obligations to attend to have basically little time to dig for information in any meaningful research and/or comparison in traditional stores. For such time-pressured individuals whose unusual schedules are incompatible with the specific trading hours of the day, online shopping serves them perfectly well, for it gives them a choice of doing it at the time that much convenient with them; online timeless shopping is convenient to anyone, including those that have more normal schedules to carry out their shopping. The very convenience goes even further than the aforementioned, for the consumers do not need to go through other several processes such as the search of presentable dressing up, travelling, paying for the parking lots, in addition to the waiting and carrying of heavy loads that are unavoidable around the physical shopping stores. More particular with the repeat/regular consumers of certain groceries, online shopping experiences affords that extra opportunity of having a wide array of information concerning the best retailers in terms of pricing and the very prospects of ultimate delivery (Kirkpatrick, 2002). Because of the 24/7 availability of the online grocery stores, many consumers can basically access them anywhere; at work, at home, at the coffee shops, at the bus stop, etcetera. In the event of a problem with a product shopped online and delivered, like a product delivered failing the consumer’s specifications as ordered, and so not satisfactory, an online shopper have the convenience/ease of ordering a return of an item in exchange for either the correct food product or even a refund, which basically is hard with handpicked products in the physical grocery stores (Punakivi, 2003). Accordingly, the delicacy cost of delivering the items purchased online falls on the seller stores. More specifically, consumers have that ease of contacting the retailer almost immediately via their websites for a replacement and/or refund for return shipping. Some online groceries have added the benefit of including the return vouchers, in effect, excepting their customers from incurring the cost of return shipping in case of a problem, for such is not the fault of the customer. For the elderly or even persons with disabilities, it is more than a challenge at times to make it to the physical grocery stores, much less carry the heavy loads around and out of the stores. And as Kenhove and Wulf (2000) notes, having food products shopped online delivered right to their doorsteps perfectly solves such states of nature challenges. Blair (2000) back the sentiments above with a recent a recent Harris poll conducted on behalf of the National Organization on Disability and financed by Aetna U.S. Healthcare noting that adults with disabilities are twice as likely as their nondisabled counterparts to report that the Internet had significantly improved their lives (Blair, 2000). The list of those that would rather shop online than shop physically at the traditional stores goes even further, with expectant mothers and those with little time for families; so that rather than losing valuable time at the physical supermarkets or the grocery stores, shopping online instead makes that perfect alternative (Sandoval, 2002). If anything, the variety of foods availed in online experiences may be much more than what a tired shopper would be able to see in a physical store walking across and in-between the long shelves. Another benefit of shopping online is the inclusion of supplemental product information such as well drawn out demonstrations, instructions, safety procedures, and even the manufacturer specifications for different quantities bought. Some groceries stores even go deeper with background information for certain food products, advice, or step by step guide to their preparation to help guide consumers’ decisions to buy (Teo, 2006). Some grocery stores go to the extent of accompanying products with proper description for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files, all which are basically absent whereas in many physical retail stores. There is also the option of going through customer comments/reviews and/or blogs, in effect, giving customers the option of shopping for the correct food products of their choice at even comparably cheaper prices from arrange of retailers the world over without having to depend on local physical groceries. A more recent study by Gorin and colleagues (2007) has added a rather unique but positive twist, noting that online grocery shopping goes along way in encouraging weight loss participants, for it not only decreases access and number of high-fatty foods within the home environment that are the very origins of obesity in America, but does well to reduce the cues for unhealthy eating habits . The Benefits of Online Grocery Shopping are several, and depends on the characteristics on the end consumers, their schedules and the pricing of the products in addition to the related costs. To be certain, the very online retailers tend to serve the rather educated consumers with lots of disposable income, and a predilection for technology (Williams, 2014). In the United States and other developed economies, the millennials are far more likely to do their shopping online than older consumers: “Approximately 55 percent of millennials shop online daily for at least an hour, eMarketer found. Amazon customers tend to be wealthy (making more than $60,000 a year), well-educated, and childless. Young people and the wealthy are quickly turning to grocery shopping online, according to the International Business Times (Williams, 2014). Notably, some of the reasons why an increasing number of consumers are warming up towards online groceries shopping basically apply to virtually all Internet purchases; that apart from buying from a point of knowledge due to a wide array of information basically on better prices, there is but a larger selection to choose from, the convenience afforded, and time savings. In addition to the foregoing benefits, home delivery of food products purchased online is befitting to those that going out to shop is difficult for some reasons, such as a busy lifestyle, a physical disability, among other reasons. References Appelhans, M., et al. (2013). Feasibility and Acceptability of Internet Grocery Service in an Urban Food Desert, Chicago, 2011-2012. Prev Chronic Dis. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2013/12_0299.htm Bellman S., et al. (1999). Predictor of online buying behavior. Communications of the ACM, 42(12), 32-38. Blair, J. (2000, September 5). Online deliveries lighten burden for the disabled; empowerment, not just convenience, for an unexpected class of consumer. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/05/nyregion/online-deliveries-lighten-burden-for-disabled-empowerment-not-just-convenience.html Gorin, A., et al. (2007). Home grocery delivery improves the household food environments of behavioral weight loss participants: Results of an 8-week pilot study. Int J Beh Nutr Phys Act, 4(58), 1–6. Haubl, G. & Trifts, V. (2000). Consumer decision making in online shopping environments: the effects of interactive decision aids. Marketing Science, 19 (1), 4-21. Karayanni, D. A. (2003). Web-shoppers and non-shoppers: compatibility, relative advantage and demographics. European Business Review, 15 (3), 141-152. Kenhove, P. V., & Wulf, K. D. (2000). Income and time pressure: a person-situation grocery retail typology. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 10(2), 149-166. Kirkpatrick, D. (2002). The online grocer version 2.0. Fortune, November 25, 146:217–221. Punakivi, M. (2003). Comparing alternative home delivery models for e-grocery business. PhD thesis, Helsinki University of Technology, Industrial Engineering and Management, Helsinki, Finland. Sandoval, G. (2002, March 5). Net supermarkets next wave. CNet News. Retrieved from http://news.com.com/2008-1082-852107.html. Shannon, R., & Mandhachitara, R. (2008). Casual path modeling of grocery shopping in Hypermarkets. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 17(5), 327-340. Teo, T. (2006). To buy or not to buy online: adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in Singapore. Behaviour & Information Technology, 25 (6), 497-509. Williams, L. C. (2014). What does online grocery shopping mean for your local farmer’s market. Think Progress. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/07/09/3457702/online-grocery-shopping/%20http:/www.sba.pdx.edu/faculty/melliep/458/ocado.pdf/ Read More