Grocery Business are Opting for Mobile Apps: Let’s Find out the Reasons
- Mobile
- March 5, 2018
There was a time when people would visit the retail grocery shops in their local areas and markets to buy household essential items. Slowly and gradually this concept was replaced by the Supermarkets, where one came across more varieties of items and choices. But with the passage of time, we have seen the evolution of online grocery stores, which are also accessible through mobile apps.
In fact, the mobile grocery apps have become popular and the numbers of such mobile apps are increasing. According to a report, about 43% of the shoppers said that they prefer mobile apps in comparison to the grocery shops.
Often shopping for the grocery items was considered to be one of the hectic tasks which took a lot of time. And when you visit the store without any shopping list, this time gap increases. Now just imagine that it nothing more than a blessing if the fresh fruits, vegetables, milk and all other essential household items are rightly delivered at your doorstep?
Now if we talk about the revenue aspect, there are some encouraging figures for the app developers. The statistics show that top five grocery apps raised about $120 million revenue in a matter of three months in 2015.
As we are perceiving a hike in the percentage increase of the eCommerce apps, the grocery-based apps are also following the same footsteps. These mobile applications are also built on more or less the same architecture where the consumer can find a spectrum of items under different categories.
1. Grocery Apps are Time Saving Folks
Do you know why eCommerce excelled in this tough business competition strata? The same can be said about the grocery apps. It’s time-saving folks! Now you don’t have to visit the store personally, walk around the supermarket with a shopping basket, search for each item, pick it up and search for the price, look for the discount and offers and lastly when you have done with your shopping, line up in the queue to wait for your turn to pay the bill.
According to the Time Use Institute, the average time a person spends at the grocery store is about 41 minutes and if that is multiplied by 1.5 trips per week when it comes to 53 hours in a year.
Well, told you grocery shopping is a tedious job and if you are accompanying your wife, be sure to spend some more sweet time at the store. Jokes apart, you can place your order from anywhere and it will be delivered to your address. It is completely hassle-free.
2. The Facility of Order Tracking
We talked about the comfort level of the customers and convenience factor that the grocery apps are offering to the users. But there are some other important reasons why its demand has suddenly ascended.
According to Morgan Stanley, the online grocery has increased to 21% to 34% in 2016. Groceries are must items and so if you get the facility of order tracking it would be icing on the cake!
The customers will be able to know the status of their order and also track the delivery making sure when it will arrive at their doorstep.
3. Opportunity to Get Aware of Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior is a term which we have probably studied in economics and is quite applicable to the grocery app business as well. Considering the scenario today it has become imperative for the entrepreneurs to collect valuable data about the customers that include their personal likes and dislikes.
In addition, you can also know at what time people prefer to do the shopping i.e. weekends, weekdays. What do they choose more? Is it the cereals, pulses, bakery items, FMCG products, eatables etc. What is their payment mode; online payment or Cash on Delivery? All these information are essential to get an insight about consumer behavior. You can offer customized services to your users based on these important inputs.
Read also: On-Demand Food Delivery App – a Boon for Food Ordering Platform
4. Grocery Apps Help in Managing Budget
Well, the grocery apps will also keep a check on your budget as you will not place orders for unnecessary items. It was common at the store when people purchased products, which they didn’t require and realized that they have needlessly spent more than required. You can also keep a track record of how much you are spending on the grocery items every month and control it if it is exceeding your estimate.
5. Avail the Benefits of Discount and Offers
Ever since the number of grocery apps is increasing, the competition is getting tougher. Every now and then we find online grocery apps coming up with some enticing offers and alluring discounts for the customers. This discount is available merely on almost every product starting from fruits and vegetables, cereals and pulses, beverages, soaps and detergents and much more.
And to add more they also offer coupons and cashbacks on purchases of a certain amount. Plus, they have also assigned one particular day when there is a special rebate on every item. Therefore, it is the customer that maximizes the benefits of such offers in the end.
6. Get the Widest Range of Products and Brands
The advantage of having a grocery app installed in your Smartphone is not just restricted to availing the benefits of discounts but also come across a wide selection of products and brands to choose from. May be that an item of a specific brand is costly and fitting your budget estimate. You have other options and brands to look for.
So, grocery app has a product for each of its customer that can well fit within his budget estimate.
Read also: Grocery Delivery App Development: Key Features and Cost Estimation
7. Helps to Create Loyalty Program
You know very well that one of the primary aims of developing a mobile app is probably to create loyalty program where you add new customers and keep the existing ones. However, before creating the loyalty program, it is better to first analyze how much revenue the existing customers can generate. You can offer your customers special offers and reward points for being loyal to your grocery app.
You can also offer gifts through online quiz or survey and also provide festival offers. The customers enjoy getting these kinds of attention.
8. Convenient Payment Options
Similar to the eCommerce apps and platforms, the grocery apps also provide convenient payment options to their customers. You can pay through net banking or pay using your debit or credit card.
Alternatively, you can also choose cash on delivery option. Some grocery apps offer additional discounts if you pay online using the debit or credit card of a particular bank.
Read also: Tips for Integrating Payment Gateway in a Mobile App
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the grocery items are most essential items that are consumed on day-to-day basis. We may have a particular schedule of buying grocery items but when we have luxury of a mobile application, we can place the order any time whether it is one or two items or a long list of the items. And it also helps in saving lot of time as well as money.
