Top 5 E-commerce Trends in the Food and Beverage Industry
The global food and beverage industry is worth trillions of dollars. With the world’s ballooning population, that number shows no signs of slowing down.
Expanding population isn’t the only thing driving food and beverage sales. Now, so is the Internet.
eCommerce, means sales of goods and services online. Those online sales are rapidly beginning to integrate with food and beverages. Given the 22 trillion dollar market worth of eCommerce, that integration means a massive industry boom.
To get an idea of how eCommerce is pushing food and beverages to new heights, our team has put together this article. It outlines the top 5 trends that are affecting grocers, restaurants and more.
1. Mobile-Centric Shopping Experiences Are Being Developed
Many Internet users do their online shopping from a mobile device instead of over traditional desktop computers. This has put pressure on food and beverage companies. They now need to develop mobile native applications or intuitive mobile websites to meet that demand.
With mobile comes a bevy of considerations food and beverage purveyors are needing to consider. Among those considerations are mobile optimized product images, fast loading pages, and more.
2. Private Labels Are Hitting the Market
Private label products sold exclusively online that are targeted at certain demographics have been discussed a lot in the last year.
Amazon dominated the conversation with its “Wickedly Prime” branded groceries. Walmart followed suit with its subsidiary jet.com’s “Uniquely Jet”.
Look for more sellers to take advantage of eCommerce by introducing specialty products over the internet.
3. Voice Integration
With the increasing prevalence of Alexa, Google Home and other devices in people’s households, food, and beverage industry players are looking to get ahead of the curve and start taking voice search seriously.
Many food players are introducing apps where consumers can order items just by asking.
4. Availability is Getting Serious
When ordering food and groceries online, there’s nothing worst for a consumer than placing their order only to find an item needed to be substituted because it wasn’t actually in inventory. This can cause food and beverage industry players to lose costumers fast.
To fix the situation, industry leaders need to have real-time inventory updates available. They are also looking to increase inventory of key items to avoid online blunders.
5. Pressure for Perfection
There is a ton of high-tech competition in the food and beverage eCommerce space. It seems as though a new startup enters the arena on a daily basis.
Because of this top-notch competition, new and established food and beverage brands are needing to build beautiful online experiences.
These experiences make it fast and simple for users to reach their end result. Things like delays in application/website functionality mean customers moving onto the competition’s website.
Wrapping up Food and Beverage Industry eCommerce Trends
The food and beverage industry is growing and now that it’s hitched its wagon to eCommerce, it’s set to explode. Still, customers native to eCommerce have a certain set of expectations. Food and beverage purveyors need to consider these.
If they don’t, they’ll get left in the dust and overtaken by the next big-time digital player.
Are you an Aussie grocer, food purveyor or wholesaler looking to expand your product’s reach into the eCommerce space? If so, our team at Seedling Commerce is here to help.
At Seedling Commerce, we offer a wide variety of robust solutions that work to migrate businesses into the digital world. Learn more about our eCommerce solutions here to find out what we can do for you!
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