What you should look for in a Grocery eCommerce Software

Grocery Business’ presence in the eCommerce domain is on an increasing trend. Gone are the days when only general merchandise was traded over an eCommerce platform. With the advancement in technology and growing consumerism on eCommerce portals, the grocery business online ( https://www.yourretailcoach.africa/fmcg-e-grocery ) has also evolved and made it is marked. To give you an idea – during this covid period- a survey has indicated that the shoppers who purchased online grocery increased from 11% to 37% in the US. Covid has made the migration and task of grocers to migrate online faster. We never know how the consumers would look at physical retail stores in the future. Thus, it is imperative to have a good Grocery eCommerce software ( https://www.yourretailcoach.africa/fmcg-e-grocery )

What are some of the key features of a grocery eCommerce website/application?

-> At the face of it is CX Strategy features. CX means consumer experience. We must understand that we are trying to replace a traditional industry wherein consumers search for their groceries in big supermarkets or go to their nearby local mom and pop grocery store to fulfil their demands (which are generally essential and urgent). There is the experience of a big supermarket store and the relation with a local grocer which we are trying to replace with online experiences and virtual environments. Hence at the heart of the entire business has to be the consumer experience.
----> Product Searches: There is an immense variety of grocery SKU and categories of products available. When a consumer visits a supermarket, they can scroll through (well-displayed aisles) or ask face to face to a local grocer. Hence the product search feature should be robust and proficient. Product discovery is the very first step of making a purchase – hence assisting the consumer in his search is crucial.
----> Segregating and categorizing the products. This will aid the consumer to go directly to the category they want to buy. This also shows the various categories that the eCommerce seller has at galore to sell. This is also in a way, aiding product discovery.
----> Navigability: Apart from categorization and product search the overall software (application or website) should be easy to navigate. If it is going to be cumbersome to traverse the website or the website is going to be very “heavy” (making it slow and unresponsive) – consumers are not going to come to you.

-> Consistent Offline and Online product information: This is a pivotal step as we are wanting to “pivot” the consumer from offline to the online market.
----> Thus, having the same and consistent product information in both channels is crucial. Online since the physical product is not in front of the consumer where they can see the description or other details, it is more important to display as much information as possible.
----> Another aspect of consistency is the promotions and pricing also need to be in sync. It will be detrimental to have differential pricing.

-> Inventory Management. At the heart of the grocery eCommerce business is the Inventory management System. The integration of the physical stock (possibly maintained in local point of sale software) and the eCommerce portal ( https://www.yourretailcoach.africa/services/e-commerce-online-stores/ ) is the key. Any stock-out situations should reflect online at concurrent times (that is it should be real-time inventory). Many factors are included here.
----> Firstly, you should have an adequate inventory of at least the must-haves to avoid consumer drop puts. This is directly relatable to accurate demand forecasting
----> Secondly, the worst experience you can offer is that the consumer has placed the order and executed a half order or has to cancel it.

-> The inventory management system should be robust and real-time to give the best consumer experience and get the maximum wallet share of the consumer. Remember it takes a lot of effort to get a consumer, even more, to keep them coming to you again and again and it takes small errors and mistakes to lose them instantaneously.
----> Order Tracking: Probably like a must-have feature is the order tracking feature. Where the consumers can track their order details as to where the order has reached, when it is going to be delivered to them, who is going to bring it to them, and their contact details. This gives not a surety to the consumer about their orders but the visibility of when it is going to come to them. (Remember it is essential hence timelines committed are crucial and need to be adhered to). This real-time tracking offers complete transparency to the consumer.
----> Check Out. Quite often, e-tailers make the checkout process very complicated and cumbersome and put some shockers here (like high delivery charges, taxes, packaging charges, etc). This is most frustrating for the consumer and leads to a very poor consumer experience. Hence the checkout should be smooth and simple. Some features that could help in this are
-> Ability to reorder saved orders (quick and easy)
-> Allowing multiple (all possible) payment options
-> Preferably talk about the prices inclusive of taxes right from the beginning.
-> Keep hidden charges to a minimum and talk about them right at the onset to keep the conversation transparent with the consumer. A great thumb rule is to state all the important information upfront.
----> Some advanced features are not necessary but just add to a great consumer experience. They can be an additional delight for the consumer.
-> Having an auto-complete feature while searching for the desired product can lead to consumers finding the product faster and better.
-> Having the ability to add the product into the cart from the listing page itself
-> Having the ability to search for a product in a specific category.
-> Consumers have a habit of using the shopping list at hand to purchase groceries. Having some way of working where the application or website could read their shopping list and add those items to their cart will be a win-win for the consumer and you.
-> A new concept that is evolving and gaining traction is Click and Collect (Buy Online and Pay in Store). This is efficient not only for grocers as it saves delivery cost (which is generally the thorn in the hay due to the low margins of the industry) but also good for consumers as delivery time can be minimized. Groceries are essentials that are needed in a shorter period than general merchandise.)

The online grocery business is surely going to rise as more roads are made into issues surrounding delivery timelines, margins, and assortment availability. It is vertical which cannot be overlooked now for sure.

As you can see, designing an eCommerce software for groceries can be a crucial task. Thus, designing a correct one requires quite a lot of due diligence and care of consumer experience. You can easily depend on Your Retail Coach for this. Your Retail Coach is a retail business consultant company. Your Retail Coach has the best-in-class grocery – retail consultants in the world. Their expertise in grocery and eCommerce business can help you navigate through issues like choosing an eCommerce software, understanding the market ( https://www.yourretailcoach.africa/services/market-research/ ), implementing standard operating procedures for your business, and making a business and financial plan. You can easily give Your Retail Coach – an expert in providing grocery business consulting services ( https://www.yourretailcoach.africa/ ) – a call to solve your issues!

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