As consumers increasingly shop for groceries online, how are retailers cooking up opportunities to meet these demands? Dive into this blog to uncover the challenges, opportunities and trends shaping food and grocery eCommerce — and how a composable approach is the secret ingredient for future-proofing your digital strategy.
The demand for online grocery shopping continues to surge, particularly in urban areas where convenience is paramount. Grocers catering to diverse consumer needs further drive this growth, expanding market opportunities and enhancing customer loyalty.
The online grocery market is expected to increase further, with the US alone projected to generate $257 billion USD in revenue in 2024. Over 138 million consumers in the US engage in online grocery shopping, with 40% of these shoppers making online purchases weekly. Globally, 22% of consumers use online grocery or delivery services.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the turning point that boosted online grocery shopping to new heights, a shift that reflects the evolving priorities of today’s consumers. Features like curbside pickup, same-day delivery and focusing on niche preferences — such as health-conscious or sustainably sourced products — have unlocked significant market opportunities for retailers.
Meanwhile, advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and analytics enable grocers to manage precise demand forecasting, optimize inventory to reduce waste and enhance customer experiences through personalized recommendations. Enhanced loyalty programs that provide exclusive discounts, birthday perks or cashback incentives are great ways to boost engagement and repeat business.
However, it’s not all smooth sailing. Managing the freshness of perishable goods, ensuring accurate orders and offering seamless omnichannel integration present real challenges. Real-time inventory management and predictive analytics ensure customers get what they order without disappointment. Transparency around allergens, nutritional content and sustainability is another box retailers must check to win the trust of today’s increasingly ethical shoppers.
Let’s explore how retailers can spice up their online grocery experience.
Maximizing online grocery shopping opportunities
To fully capitalize on the growth of online grocery shopping, retailers must adopt a multifaceted approach that aligns with modern consumer expectations and operational advancements.
Unified commerce strategies allow retailers to create seamless transitions between online and in-store shopping. Models like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) blend the convenience of digital ordering with the immediacy of in-store fulfillment, reducing shipping costs while boosting customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, mobile-first shopping continues to reshape the industry, with smartphones as indispensable tools for grocery consumers. Retailers are responding by creating user-friendly apps with features such as barcode scanning, voice-activated search and instant payment capabilities. Unified promotions across platforms ensure consistent messaging, enabling retailers to connect with shoppers wherever they engage.
Personalization is key to driving loyalty and increasing average basket sizes. AI-driven insights allow retailers to deliver tailored discounts, product bundles and recommendations that appeal to individual preferences such as health-conscious or sustainable choices. Loyalty programs help create long-term customer engagement through exclusive perks, rewards and promotions that encourage repeat business.
Subscription models like “subscribe and save” remain strong, particularly for staples like coffee and pet food, delivering both customer convenience and predictable revenue streams for retailers. Additionally, the adoption of buy now, pay later (BNPL) options is surging, especially among younger generations, who value flexible payment solutions.
When synchronized with commerce, real-time inventory visibility data also allows grocers to optimize fulfillment options, such as same-day delivery or curbside pickup, further streamlining the shopping experience and meeting sustainability targets. By combining real-time insights with seamless omnichannel experiences, grocers can maintain the freshness of perishable goods, forecast demand for perishable items and ensure that online orders reflect availability, eliminating post-order disappointments.
Innovations in last-mile delivery, such as micro-fulfillment centers and AI-optimized routing, ensure faster and more sustainable delivery options, addressing both customer expectations and environmental concerns.
Serving up success with composable commerce
Composable commerce offers food and grocery companies a flexible and scalable solution to navigate the complexities of the evolving online market.
By leveraging a modular architecture, grocers can seamlessly integrate world-class technologies — tailored solutions for logistics, personalization and inventory management — without overhauling their entire system. Overall speaking, composable technology can provide food and grocery retailers with four main benefits:
Seamless omnichannel integration: Composable commerce unites in-store and online operations, ensuring consistent inventory visibility, pricing and customer experiences across all channels. This integration is vital for models like BOPIS and curbside pickup.
Adaptability to market trends: Retailers can quickly adapt to evolving consumer demands, such as incorporating BNPL options, subscription services or mobile-first shopping enhancements.
High-performance and scalability: By leveraging a composable approach, grocery retailers can handle high transaction volumes with low latency, ensuring smooth operations during peak shopping periods, such as holidays or special promotions.
Data-driven insights: Composable commerce centralizes data to provide actionable insights that drive personalized marketing, demand forecasting and improved customer engagement. This data capability ensures a precise understanding of shopper behaviors and preferences.
PLUS Supermarkets
The leading grocery chain in the Netherlands, PLUS Supermarkets adopted commercetools to create a more responsive and tailored online shopping experience, increasing webshop speed by 50% and successful order rate by 89%. Thanks to commercetools, the retailer implemented an award-winning omnichannel experience that works seamlessly during peak times.
Wild Fork Foods
Wild Fork Foods, a D2C retailer specializing in high-quality protein, leveraged commercetools to enhance its eCommerce operations, enabling efficient management of fresh and frozen goods. By utilizing composable commerce, Wild Fork Foods optimized inventory management and expanded its ability to deliver high-quality products to customers quickly and reliably.
Woolworths
Australia’s largest supermarket chain Woolworths uses commercetools to expand its on-demand grocery delivery market with a dedicated app. With a composable approach, Woolworths now has a fast and scalable technology to manage the heightened demand generated by mobile shopping channels.
The next course in grocery and food eCommerce
The online grocery shopping market is rife with opportunities but also presents unique challenges. As consumer expectations evolve, retailers must adopt innovative solutions to stay competitive. Composable commerce offers a powerful framework to unlock this sector’s potential, enabling grocers to deliver seamless, personalized experiences while addressing operational complexities.
Are you exploring new ways to boost your online grocery shopping for your customers? Discover commercetools for Food and Grocery, the composable commerce solution for food and grocery brands.
Manuela Marques Tchoe is a Content Writer at commercetools. She was a Content and Product Marketing Director at conversational commerce provider tyntec. She has written content in partnership with Facebook, Rakuten Viber and other social media platforms.