Online shopping fruit and vegetables

UK online grocery retailing is set for a surge in sales over the next four years, new figures indicate.

Research by IGD and The Consumer Goods Forum predicts online grocery sales in the UK will grow by 48 per cent by 2022, accounting for 7.5 per cent of the total UK market.

Even bigger growth is predicted in other major markets, with online grocery set to rise by 286 per cent in China and account for 11.1 per cent of sector sales, with a 129 per cent growth anticipated for the US, where it will have a two per cent share.

The insights, which are due to be presented at The Consumer Goods Forum’s annual Global Summit in Singapore in June, suggest there are three main reasons why no grocery retailer or supplier can afford to downplay online retail.

These are that across most of the world, online is already a fast-growing channel; online and offline are merging, with an online store vital to complement physical stores; and the digital world evolves faster than the physical one and online stores will become increasingly compelling.

With over half (54 per cent) of food and grocery businesses only just starting to prepare for tomorrow’s digital transformation and 11 per cent yet to begin, IGD has set out its vision of the online store of the future and what it will mean for retailers and manufacturers.

Based on a survey of 223 senior industry members across 42 different markets and a series of in-depth interviews, combined with IGD's analysis, digital experts expect to see dramatic changes in the competitive landscape.

Online store of the future

The research concludes that the online store of the future will contain five key features:

- It will be a shopper’s personal micro store offering individualised and online-exclusive products, personalised promotions, recommendations, advertising and loyalty schemes.

- It will act as a smart personal assistant, connecting with various devices, preventing shoppers from running out of products and supporting their lifestyle goals.

- It will be more efficient for shoppers, easier and quicker to order products. Login and payment will be available through facial, voice or touch recognition technology. Shoppers will incur less waste, with a greater choice of pack sizes and meal planners to help manage quantities and advise on using leftovers. A better fulfilment service will be on offer with more deliveries, on time and in full and products delivered at the right quality and freshness.

- It will help give shoppers a frictionless combined offline and online shopping experience. People will switch seamlessly from shopping online and in store with data cross-referenced between the two. This will help bring more personalisation to the physical store and help shoppers find their favourite products quickly and discover new ones.

- It will at times be invisible, with shoppers buying products from shoppable digital content such as videos, photos and social media. In the future, people can be shopping at any time. There will be no limits to when you can be shopping. China has been leading the merging of media, entertainment and shopping, and Europe and North America will follow.

Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, said “Grocery retail is seeing an unprecedented amount of change, driven by changing shopper expectations and the ability to meet these using transformative technologies. This offers great opportunities for companies of all sizes. The winners will put the needs of their shoppers first, be prepared to act decisively, maintain the highest everyday standards and exhibit tremendous agility.”