Along with several other industries, technological advancements have disrupted the grocery sector as well. The Shift from brick and mortar to digital shopping domains is now speeding up. People in increasing numbers are turning to smartphones to look for and order almost everything. With that said, grocery store trends in relation to mobile apps are rising.
However, with the outbreak of COVID-19 that sent most countries in lockdown, ordering groceries online suddenly gained a lot of traction among users stuck at home. It is even encouraged by authorities as online delivery services are considered necessities and are allowed to operate even during strict lockdown conditions.
This has fast-tracked many impending changes for the digital grocery sector and has made a lot of practices come into the mainstream. And gauging from the trends, these practices are more likely to become a permanent feature of most online shopper’s buying habits even when the lockdowns are over.
If you are a grocery-based business owner, you should know about these practices and trends in detail so that you too can incorporate them into your business can gain maximum benefit out of it.
Here are the latest online grocery shopping trends that you will continue to see in 2023 and beyond.
Introducing Supply Chain Technology
Simply put, the supply chain is the entire ecosystem of people, organizations, information, and cities involved in getting products or services from the suppliers’ to the consumers.
However, as the world moves to a more technology-oriented space, organizations are looking for new and improved solutions to better sync the supply and demand that incorporate factors like what items are ordered and what stock is available.
Quality checks have become optimum as people have started to turn to social media to share every experience they have. Nobody wants a product bought from the store to turn up on social media with horrible reviews. For example, no grocery stores want to see that someone found an insect in one of the items they delivered, and one that’s going to end up being severely scrutinized on social channels. However, integrating the right supply chain technology into your grocery app will help you build a system that analyses the buying pattern of your regular customers and help prepare a live data feed to help you manage inventory that provides top ended quality assurance.
Moreover, with the right technology partner, you can even offer your grocery store buyers a multichannel experience that allows them to feel the product using interactive screens.
Creating Mixed Spaces for Buyers
Mixed spaces are more necessary today than ever before. The mixed space will prove beneficial; with the outbreak of COVID-19. People can use the apps to place their orders, and check what they need before they leave. Nobody wants to leave their homes unnecessarily, and a grocery app with a mixed space can help them make more informed decisions.
Besides, as businesses worldwide are incorporating technology in one way or another to meet the changing expectations of consumers, standalone brick-and-mortar stores can’t maintain their competitive advantage for long. Businesses like grocery and other consumer stores need a digital presence and innovative features that help them continue enjoying sustainable customer loyalty.
People want convenience, and knowing what they need to buy makes shopping easy. Moreover, grocery app development services these days are rapidly adapting to the changing needs of people and society to help people follow through the precautionary measure through leveraging high ended digital solutions.
Integrating Voice Assistant Based Ordering
Voice recognition is getting a lot of attention across industries and markets. We can’t ignore that we live in a world where people use voice search assistants in their everyday lives. They prefer using their voice search assistants over typing. Examples like Ask Peapod, Walmart’s Voice Order, and, Alexa make you realize the importance of integrating voice search assistants. They make ordering from your grocery app easy for users. They create a more natural shopping environment but it also helps build customer loyalty.
Due to the urge for more convenience and regularity of grocery shopping, voice ordering will get big across the industry. The shift towards conversational commerce is happening now; investing in the technology will allow your brand to enjoy a competitive advantage. You can be one of the first movers in this niche.
Subscription-based Online Shopping
Convenience is the key. And what can be more convenient than having your regular online grocery provider deliver to you? Users would love to receive pred-decided weekly, bi-weekly, monthly orders!
To stand out, vendors can hire grocery app development services. Then collaborate to incorporate a new feature or create a new subscription-based app.
As online shopping is becoming increasingly popular, people prefer the delivery of their necessities. This feature can also be very beneficial for a grocery store that also runs a pharmacy. Besides, this will also encourage people to buy products altogether instead of in batches; thereby making sales more consistent.
Social Login Or One Step Sign Up
Nowadays, people don’t have much time to elaborate sign-up processes to use an app that delivers groceries. This also doesn’t make much sense on the UX side of things as well.
Allowing users to sign up using social login or by enabling guest checkouts is a great idea. It will help you completely transform the experience users get inside your app.
Zoom is an online meeting platform that has a unique feature; the feature is people with no Zoom accounts can also join meetings. The feature is a major reason for Zoom’s success. As a grocery app owner, you can replicate it in your app too.
If you hire top grocery app development services, the agency will definitely know how to pull this feature in your app to make it more efficient and easy for users to engage with.
Wrap up
One of the things social distancing and self-quarantine have brought to everyone’s attention is digital solutions. The combination of digital and technology is sure to offer sustainable growth and consolidated stability for businesses. And as is evident, online platforms and solutions have made these tough times slightly more comfortable to get by. Grocery stores with an app or a website are in high demand. It’s high time you get one too if you want to be successful.