Online grocery shopping is one of those things that sounds like it would be a good business model. But it has yet to catch on among consumers in the US.
Despite this, mega-companies like Amazon, Wal-Mart and others are doubling down on their efforts to convince US shoppers to surf for produce, canned goods, meats, dairy and other groceries from their laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Wal-Mart recently announced that it is testing a program in which it is teaming with the Lyft and Uber ride-sharing companies for rapid home grocery delivery in Denver and Phoenix. And Amazon last week launched a same-day grocery delivery program in London.
Consumer Resistance
Home grocery delivery is something mega-retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart obviously want to be successful. But consumers historically have been reluctant to embrace the concept.
While few people enjoy making the obligatory weekly trip to the grocery store — especially in urban and suburban areas where they are likely to face crowded parking lots, large crowds, and long waits at the checkout lines. And yet most it’s an obligation that many people don’t want to hand over to online grocery services.
‘Price and Pride’
One reason is financial: Many consumers simply don’t want to pay the added expense. Customers enrolled in the AmazonFresh grocery delivery service in Seattle and other cities are required to pay $299 in annual membership fees. Wal-Mart customers who use the Uber/Lyft pilot program will pay $7 to $10 per order.
For many consumers, those are high prices to pay for the convenience of home delivery and represent a considerable increase in the weekly grocery budget.
Freshness Counts
Another concern is control. While canned, frozen and prepared foods are relatively the same everywhere, the same can’t be said about fresh meats, poultry, dairy and produce.
To participate in online ordering, consumers have to agree to hand over control to somebody else, relying on third party shoppers to select the best-quality perishables for their families — something many picky customers have proven reluctant to do.
Scheduling Concerns
When you order groceries online, somebody generally has to be there to accept delivery. Nobody wants spoilable products like milk, fish, or poultry sitting on their doorstep for several hours — even if they are in temperature-controlled sacks or insulated boxes.
That means deliveries have to be coordinated so they take place when somebody is at home to accept them. If consumers have to wait around for groceries to be delivered anyway, many figure they may as well jump in the car and go shopping themselves — saving on the delivery charges and allowing them to pick out their own fresh products.
Glue, a Swedish startup, has developed a smart lock that replaces your front door key with an app, allowing grocery delivery drivers to stock your refrigerator even when you aren’t home. But many people aren’t likely to warm to the idea of strangers going into their homes unsupervised.
Future Shock
Clothing, entertainment media, pharmaceuticals and most other consumer goods already have been swallowed up by the online shopping trend. While it’s only a matter of time before grocery providers figure out a way to overcome consumer objections and find an effective way to make home grocery delivery a reality, consumers continue to be cool to the business model.