Brick-and-mortar retailers remain popular among grocery shoppers, with 75% of consumers preferring to shop at traditional grocers, according to the TABS Analytics 6th Annual Food and Beverage Consumables Study. Although that marked a 4% increase from last year’s survey, only 38% of consumers said they’ve made food and beverage purchases online even once and, conversely, 62% still buy no food or beverages online. Brick-and-mortar grocery accounts for 95% of transactions, and 99% of adults say they buy food and beverages regularly at a brick-and-mortar outlet. Meanwhile, 44% of those polled said they’re loyal online grocery shoppers, up from 38% a year ago.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Lightbulb Moment: Human contact cannot be substituted by convenience. The smell, the look, the feel of choosing your own food is something online service providers may never be able to replace. The challenge would be to come up with an enticement that would be more desired than this experience. If that happens, then heaven help farmers markets.