We’ve all been there – a missing ingredient for that new recipe, a last-minute BBQ invitation – but no time to open up your laptop to place an order or swing by your local store on a busy Friday. When it comes to online grocery shopping, today’s consumer is reliant on convenience, 24/7 access, and an experience that leads to streamlined product discovery. How can you fulfill a customer need, and increase your online grocery sales, with options beyond desktop or in-person shopping?
Mobile ecommerce accounts for 45 percent of US ecommerce sales, and annual mobile ecommerce sales in the US are projected to grow from $284 billion to $488 billion in 2024. It’s no question that offering a mobile app for your customers to shop is an essential piece of increasing online grocery sales. If orders are being placed from behind a desk, just think of the opportunity when that same customer can one-click checkout from the pool, the passenger seat, or while waiting for an appointment.
As COVID restrictions lift, people are on the go. We’re running errands. Taking kids to school. Enjoying extracurricular activities that we’ve missed over the past year. And grocery shopping has to complement this shift in day-to-day behavior – grocers need to meet their customers wherever they are, and offer grocery ordering at the click of a button, to see success in their online grocery business.
Here are four ways a mobile app can increase sales for your online grocery business.
In the grocery industry, the conversion rate is 3x higher on mobile than on desktop.
Who doesn’t love a higher conversion rate? More orders equals more revenue. As the time to navigate your go-to app is faster than booting up your laptop (that you may or may not have on hand), ease of access is a top consideration for shoppers – a well-designed grocery app minimizes abandoned carts by saving information such as payment details, address, and preferred order fulfillment, making checkout easier than ever before.
Be more than a local store. Shoppers shop with brands they know and love.
Grocery shopping is no longer a transactional commodity, but a personal experience. Just like Starbucks customers expect their name on a cup and a barista’s friendly nod for that sense of community, online grocery shopping should feel just as personal as an in-store visit with sensory displays and cheerful cashiers. Owning your own mobile app gives your store more touchpoints for customers to build continued trust with your brand, whether it’s personal notifications (we’re open this holiday weekend!) or the continued comfort of knowing their online order is being put together with the same quality care as their in-store experience.
Make it easier for customers to build brand loyalty (and digital carts!) through special deals and discounts.
Point and loyalty programs are a big reason for consumers to choose one brand over another, and mobile apps are a great way to keep rewards top of mind, and increase those grocery sales. In the grocery business, the Weekly Ad is a classic marketing tool for retailers to share promotions around holidays or special deals. Picking up a hard copy of the Weekly Ad in-store gives a shopper less time to peruse their options and add to cart, versus 24/7 access to a digital version via mobile to build out a list that has you covered for the week.
Be your customer’s trusted partner through consistent communication.
A KPMG study states the obvious: consumers are more likely to trust a business that makes it easy to contact people at the company. Whether your customers prefer messaging in direct chat or picking up a phone, a mobile app is one extra channel for you to connect with your audience. And it goes both ways – reactive and proactive communication can make all the difference in keeping shoppers happy and loyal to your brand (no one wants to find you are out of stock of toilet paper at the last minute). With push notifications enabled through mobile, customers can always be in-the-know and never have to worry about a last minute change.
Getting groceries comes to life in many forms, from in-store pickup to at-home delivery. Will there be one perfect solution for everyone? Unlikely, which is why it’s important for independent grocers to provide multiple ways for their customers to access groceries from the brand they know and love. Today, there is no shortage of options for local grocers to offer a mobile app, but is it truly one that delivers the same in-store experience your customers expect – one that is affordable and tailored to your brand?
