How to Succeed in the Emerging U.S. Grocery Market: Complete Analysis of U.S. Online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers' Features & Functionality.

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How to Succeed in
the Emerging U.S.
Grocery Market:
Complete Analysis
of U.S. Online Grocery
Market, and Online
Retailers’ Features
& Functionality.
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                          2

         Introduction
         eCommerce in the US has continued to gather pace,                 The growth of eCommerce means that success for
         with the second quarter of 2016 seeing online retail              fast moving consumer goods (CPG) manufacturers is
         grow at 15% year over year. Once considered immune                more and more dependent on how their products are
         to the shift to the digital economy, grocery categories           represented in the online channel. Understanding the
         are no longer the exception as a growing proportion of            intricacies of how retailers operate online, and what
         retail sales move away from physical stores and into the          capabilities are on offer is critical for brands looking to
         online channel. Established firms face competition from           optimize their online performance.
         Amazon both online and offline, increasing the need for
         retailers to react to the changing market.                        In this analysis, Clavis Insight looks at the major online
                                                                           grocery retailers in the United States, comparing annual
         According to a Clavis Insight Survey, in the past six             revenue, range and online store functionality for the four
         months 50% of shoppers have made a purchase in the                biggest established players, in addition to the uniquely
         Fresh & Grocery categories online. Online frequency of            positioned Instacart. Go to the Appendix for a full table
         purchase is also higher than in 2015 with 45% of online           showing the functional capabilities of each, including
         grocery consumers shopping the category weekly, and               size of portfolio, membership, delivery and navigation
         over 80% engaging with the category at least monthly.             options, as well as product content, consumer
                                                                           engagement and mobile app capabilities.
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                         3

         Size of the prize: What is the opportunity                        The Major Players Online
         for brands?
         The grocery sector is a late bloomer when it comes to             The online grocery market in the US is less mature than
         online penetration. Current estimates put 2016 online             that of the UK, with different retailers tackling one city
         sales at 6%, compared to double-digit share figures               or region at a time before expanding. Peapod is the
         in other categories such as electronics, but this is              national leader when it comes to fresh delivery online
         significantly up from 2% in 2015. Online penetration              with 5.4% of total online grocery market share according
         is expected to continue to grow, at an annualized                 to IBISWorld. It only operates on the east coast of the
         rate of 13.2% during the five years to 2020 according             country and has been slowly increasing coverage since
         to IBISWorld. (An estimate from Brick Meets Click, a              its inception in 1989.
         grocery research and consultancy, forecasts online
         grocery spending in the United States will reach
         between 11% and 17% in most markets by 2023.)
         This presents an opportunity for brands capable of
         establishing strong online positioning in order to take
         advantage of future growth.

         For this analysis Clavis Insight looked at some of the                                     +   Amazon

         largest players in the grocery market, including Amazon,                                   +   PeaPod

         Walmart, Peapod, and Fresh Direct among others.                                            +   Fresh Direct

                                                                                                    +   Walmart
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                        4

         Peapod will deliver to the following areas

         Chicagoland                                                        S. New Hampshire
         Milwaukee                                                          Massachusetts
         S.E. Wisconsin                                                     Rhode Island
         Indianapolis                                                       Conneticut
                                                                            New York
                                                                            New Jersey

         Maryland                                                           Philadelphia
         Virginia                                                           S.E. Pennsylvania
         Washington D.C.

         *Note, Peadpod directly competes with Fresh Direct in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia.
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                            5

         Other major retailers, such as Whole Foods, have           Brands operating in the brick & mortar space are used
         decided to outsource their online delivery to Instacart.   to competition from both rival brands and retailer’s
         Instacart was once valued at over $2bn, but the            private label offerings; the online channel is no
         company has stumbled in recent months as growth            different. All of the retailers included in the analysis
         remains below expectations. Instacart’s struggle is        offer their own private label ranges (Instacart can
         further proof that this market is still in its infancy in the
                                                                    deliver retailers’ private labels), and often prioritize
         United States.                                             these ranges ahead of leading brands reflected in
                                                                    Search results. One could argue whether this is the
         The biggest threat to existing retailers is by far Amazon. correct strategy to drive category value and growth,
         While Amazon Fresh first launched in 2007, the service     but it is the reality that brands need to be aware
         has only recently incorporated into the main Amazon.       of. Brands therefore need to ensure that they are
         com domain. Its main website generates over 2.1 billion    continuously educating their retail partners with
         visits per month, dwarfing the 1.4m received by Peapod.    online category insights, and forming collaborative
         This launch accompanies Amazon’s traditional portfolio of partnerships around category management initiatives
         items and Amazon Prime Pantry and help make Amazon to deliver growth.
         the number one overall grocery retailer in the US.
                                                                    Here we see Walmart Grocery following other retailer’s
         Share of Shelf and Size of Portfolio                       policy to strongly push private label, with 40% of the
                                                                    Search results for “Olive Oil” returning a private label.
         Amazon Fresh is the newest entrant into the online         Other retailers have lower but not insignificant levels of
         grocery market, yet boasts the largest catalog of items private label items appearing in Search results.
         at over 100,000. Walmart Grocery was far behind with
         30,000 items, with Peapod and FreshDirect closing out
         the group with “over 12,000” and “over 3,000 fresh”
         items respectively.

                                                                                           Regional Availability: % Of Products In-Stock
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                     6

         Amazon only recently launched a private label line                charge a delivery fee no matter the size of the order.
         in the home goods and grocery space, and does not                 Instacart’s model is unique in that you can wave the
         yet have an Olive Oil brand. This time should be used             minimum shipping fee by signing up for a $99 per year
         by brands to well position themselves against key                 membership.
         categories on Amazon Fresh if they expect Amazon to
         expand their existing private label.                              Amazon prime recently switched its pay structure from
                                                                           $299 annual to $14.99 monthly as an “add-on” fee to
         Online store functionality                                        a Prime account. The memberships still come with a
                                                                           $50 minimum order, making Amazon one of the more
         In our analysis of online store capabilities, we looked           expense options out there.
         at the differences across a host of retailer functions
         including delivery options, mobile capabilities, product          Speed and convenience is fast becoming a competitive
         representation, and more. Understanding the nuances               differentiator between online grocery platforms. In a
         between key retailers will enable brands to better                recent Morgan Stanley survey, data shows that many
         optimize against key online metrics such as Ratings &             shoppers do not see going to a store as a major
         Reviews, Availability, Search, and Content Integrity in           inconvenience. In fact, 67% of shoppers said they like
         order to drive sales on the different platforms.                  to select fresh products themselves, 33% said they
                                                                           enjoy shopping in stores, and 27% said that the store
         Membership and Delivery options                                   is more convenient. This may explain why Walmart
                                                                           Grocery advertises that you do not need to leave your
         Most US online retailers don’t charge consumers a                 car during pick up, or why Instacart offers users the
         membership fee, in an bid to get more to sign up,                 ability to pay a premium for faster 1-hour delivery.
         and some offer free delivey for orders over a certain
         treshold, while others charge for delivery regardless of
         order size. FreshDirect and Walmart offer free shipping
         on orders over $30, while Instacart and Peapod
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                           7

         The Digital Shelf – Search and Menu placement                     Availability

         When shopping online, what would historically be                  Product Availability may well be the most important
         considered shelf “placement” is determined by how                 metric that brands track in both the online and offline
         well products rank for keywords on Search results                 channel. While warnings of low stock are expected in
         pages, or where they are located in the category                  more established online stores, most major online grocery
         navigation menu structure. This is why many brands                platforms only enable “out of stock” or “in stock”.
         will make it a priority to ensure their products appear
         on the first page of Search results, in order to maximize         Peapod offers two options once an item goes out of
         exposure to the greatest number of shoppers.                      stock: you can have a comparable item substituted into
                                                                           the order or be offered a rain check for the next time
         Brands should be aware of what constitutes the first              the item is in stock.
         page of search on any given retailer. In the grocery
         space this number various greatly, from around 20                 Instacart is unique in that it acts as the delivery arm of
         items on Amazon and Walmart, to 120 spots on                      some brick and mortar stores such as Whole Foods. Its
         Peapod. Regardless of first page length, brands should            policy is to replace your requested item with a suitable
         be looking to optimize their search performance to                best fit if the item is out of stock in the store. If you do
         increase conversations from the search results page.              not like the alternative items, then they can be dropped
                                                                           from the order.

         Section          Functions          Peapod    FreshDirect   Walmart Grocery   Instacart   Amazon Fresh   Amazon   Walmart

         Availability     OOS statuses       Y         Y             N                 Y           Various        Y        Y

         Availability     Low stock          N         N             N                 N           Y              Y        N

                          Waitlist / Email
         Availability                        Y         N             N                 N           Y              Y        N
                          Notification
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                       8

         Shopper Sentiment – Ratings & Reviews

         Product Ratings & Reviews are a proven sales driver in            Once again, Amazon has thought ahead to help solve
         the online channel. Given consumers have over three               this problem. Some items have had their regular Amazon
         times more trust in Reviews than in brand advertising,            Reviews pulled into Amazon Fresh in order boost
         a high volume of high-scoring reviews can act as free             Review counts. For example, both Dole and Del Monte
         advertising for your product, driving ‘add to basket’.            have Reviews going back to 2014 for their canned fruit
         It is also particularly important to generate user                products. In this competitive space, these two brands
         engagement for new products.                                      dominate Search results for “canned fruit” on Amazon
                                                                           Fresh. For Dole, 67% of their products on the first page
         Surprisingly, three of the five retailers looked at for this      have a positive Review score, while that’s true for 60%
         report do not support user Reviews. While Walmart                 of Del Monte products. This means that Dole can take
         allows Ratings and Reviews for general merchandise,               advantage of positive past performance on Amazon to
         its grocery portal does not. And while Peapod does                propel its strategy on Amazon Fresh. On other online
         support Reviews, the vast majority of items do not                grocery platforms, all brands are starting at zero.
         have any due to this feature being a recent addition
         to its website. Many items on Amazon Fresh do have
         at least one Review, but total counts are low for most
         categories since Fresh recently expanded to so many
         cities. This is another opportunity for early moves to
         boost the appeal of their item but increasing consumer
         engagement with their online portfolio.
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                        9

         Content Integrity – Delivering an Engaging
         Shopping Experience

         More and more consumers are by-passing Google                     For example, of the retailers analyzed only Amazon
         and other traditional Search engines, instead turning             Fresh allows product images to be added to the
         directly to online store fronts for superior production           description portion of the product page. While this
         information that educates and engages. Product page               type of A+ Content is popular on Amazon, most
         Content in online stores is the means for brands to               Amazon Fresh pages’ lack Content outside of the most
         educate and reinforce their product efficacy and brand            basic details and a single image. This is a sign of the
         equity. In the absence of having a physical product               immaturity of the market. Brands need to be aware of
         to touch and feel, it is the opportunity to create a              the limitations in place and take advantage of the tools
         shopping experience that both informs, but also drives            available to best positon their product. Amazon is joined
         conversion. Unfortunately, Product Content is another             by Fresh Direct as retailers with multiple images toward
         area where the online grocery market lags the general             the top of the page, as Instacart and Walmart Grocery
         eCommerce market.                                                 lack this basic feature. Multiple Images are important
                                                                           because they allow shoppers to get a better item for
                                                                           what the item looks like, increase conversations.
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                       10

         Mobile Apps

         In terms of eCommerce and online Content in particular            According to a 2016 study done by Progressive Grocer,
         more and more industry watchers are talking about the             roughly 43 percent of millennials shoppers say they use
         importance of Mobile. Speaking at the Clavis Insight              some kind of mobile app to grocery shop, a further sign
         eCommerce Summit in 2015, Ocado’s Head of Product                 that brands will need to optimize for smaller mobile
         and Merchandising, Hannah Gibson, stressed the                    screens. Mobile ready images call out pack size, color,
         importance of Content, adding that brands and retailers           and other key details. This saves shoppers from having
         needed to think mobile first when it comes to creating            to zoom in on text located on labels or small bottles.
         their online store Content. “It’s really difficult to create
         Content that works well to engage the shopper on                  Amazon offers its Fresh service within the standard
         mobile, with small screens, minuscule images and short            Amazon app, which will boost the number of shoppers
         bursts of text,” Gibson explained. “But if you can get            exposed to its service. Walmart offers a standalone app
         your Content to work on small formats then it will work           just for its grocery service, while FreshDirect, Peapod,
         for desktop web pages as well.”                                   and Instacart all offer their own apps as well.

         In the United States, shoppers have been flocking to
         mobile across multiple categories, driving 1/3 of all Black
         Friday traffic this year. This is only a sign of things to
         come, and brands that get ahead of the curve to optimize
         for mobile shoppers will have a distinct advantage.
Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                           11

         What do brands need to win?
         How can brands take their knowledge of the key                    Building customer engagement on websites with sparse
         eCommerce metrics and turn it into success in the                 Reviews, such as Peapod, will help cement certain items
         online grocery space?                                             has category leaders. As the market matures, there is
                                                                           room for brands to be aggressive and to jump ahead
         The key foundation of capabilities and resources                  of rivals on a slew key online metrics.
         needed to succeed in the online grocery channel
         will include measurement and analytics. As we have                The eCommerce channel isn’t going to go away; in fact,
         seen, many of the retailers trail traditional retail sites        it is continuing to grow its share of overall retail. Brands
         when it comes to their current feature set. No matter             need to understand this ever-evolving landscape, the
         he metrics and KPIs you choose to follow, basic                   retailers and capabilities of their online stores to be
         improvements will have a significant impact on your               better armed in order to win in the coming years.
         online offerings. Luckily there are usually plenty of
         examples where you can demonstrate impact. It might
         be about optimizing product titles for better Search
         performance or quickly identifying distribution gaps
         in certain online retailers.

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Complete Analysis of US online Grocery Market, and Online Retailers’ Features and Functionality                                                                         12

                                                                           UK Grocery Category

       Functions             Peapod              FreshDirect          Walmart Grocery           Instacart           Amazon Fresh            Amazon        Walmart.com

 Size, Operations
 and Offering

 Online Launch
                      1989                 1999                   2015                  2012                   2016                  1994            2000
 Year (UK)

                                                                                        Over 15 major cities   London, and ten
                                                                  Over 30 locations
                                                                                        including Atlanta,     major US cities
                      Northeast, Chicago                          including
                                                                                        Boston, Chicago,       including Los
                      area, Washington     New York, New          Bentonville,
 Regions Served                                                                         Denver, Los            Angeles, New          Entire US       Entire US
                      DC area,             Jeresy, Philadelphia   Arkansas; Phoenix,
                                                                                        Angeles, New York,     York City, Boston,
                      Philadelphia                                Arizona; Denver,
                                                                                        Philadelphia, San      Chicago, San
                                                                  Colorado
                                                                                        Francisco, Seattle     Francisco

 Product Count        12,000+              3,000                  30,000                Varies by Store        100,000+              200+ million    4+ million

 Own Label
                      Y                    Y                      Y                     N                      Y                     Y               Y
 Capabilities

 Marketplace
                      N                    N                      N                     N                      N                     Y               Y
 Capabilities

 Pricing & Delivery

 Shipping             Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y

 BOPIS /Click &
                      Y                    N                      Y                     N                      N                     N               Y
 Collect

 In-Store Only        N                    N                      Y                     N                      N                     N               Y

 Subscription/
                      N                    N                      N                     N                      N                     Y               Y
 Subscribe & Save

 Membership           N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y

 Fastest Shipping/
                      Y                    N                      2 hour                1 Hour                 On The Day Delivery   One Day         2 Day
 Delivery Available

 Free Shipping                                                                                                 Must be a prime
                      N                    $30                    $30                   N                                            $35             $50
 Threshold                                                                                                     member

 Delivery Fee         $9.95 under $100     $6.99                  free pick up          $3.99                  $299 per year         $3.99           $3.99

 Availability

 OOS statuses         Y                    Y                      N                     Y                      Various               Y               Y

 Low stock            N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               N

 Waitlist /Email
                      Y                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               N
 Notification

 Navigation options
 & Placement

 Menu Filtering
                      Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y
 Navigation

 Menu Page Size       120                  25                     60                    All Items (80+)        24                    24              39

 Search Page Size     120                  25                     60                    50                     24                    20              20

 Suggested Search
                      Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y
 Terms

 Spelling
                      Y                    Y                      Y                     N                      Y                     Y               Y
 Forgiveness

 Sponsored Search     Y                    Y                      N                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y

 Search History       Y                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y

 Consumer
 Engagement

 Ratings & Reviews    Y                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y

 Enable
 Manufacturer         N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               N
 Responses

 Review Syndication   N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     N               Y

 Chat / Feedback
                      N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     N               N
 Functionality

 Q&A                  N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y

 # secondary images
                      N                    Y                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y
 (up to 5)

 Content & Product
 Page Structure

 Video                N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y

 Variated Pages       N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               N

 Detailed
                      Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y
 Description

 Images/Graphics
                      N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y
 in description

 Detail Bullets       Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y

 Best Seller
                      Y                    Y                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y
 Rankings

 Ingredients          Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y

 Allergy              Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y

 Nutrition Panel      Y                    Y                      Y                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y

 Sponsored Products
                      N                    N                      N                     N                      Y                     Y               Y
 on Product Page

 Suggested Items on
                      Y                    Y                      N                     Y                      Y                     Y               Y
 Product Page
13

Online Key Metrics
         Availability Track your portfolio’s state of     Ratings and Reviews Set targets for
         availability by retailer, category, brand, and   total number of product reviews and
         manufacturer to optimise your range, maxi-       average rating score to help drive omni-
         mise distribution, and improve sell-through.     channel sales.

         Search Rank Understand where your                Media Tracking Monitor online
         products rank in search results for specific     media placements for compliance
         search terms to ensure your products are         and effectiveness; track category
         discoverable.                                    competitors.

         Content Integrity Monitor compliance             Price and Promotions Tracking
         of product content for individual SKUs           Monitor pricing and promotions for
         by category and online retailer so that you      your products and your competitors’
         can make sure your products are optimised        products to make sure your products
         to win the digital shelf.                        are optimised to win the digital shelf.

         Category Placement Understand where              Location Based Tracking Monitors location-
         your products rank on the online store           based product Distribution, Availability and
         category menu structure. Target categories       Price & Promotion, and provides aggregated
         to ensure specific product sets are              analysis of metrics at the market-level by
         easily discoverable.                             retailer, brand and category.
14

               About Us

               Clavis Insight is at the forefront of the ecommerce
               revolution, delivering ecommerce insights and online
               retail store analytics to a broad range of consumer
               products brand leaders around the world. Our
               Insights are designed to enable you to optimise your
               distribution, content integrity and online placement
               in the digital channel in order to protect your brand
               online and grow your sales.

               To learn more please contact: info@clavisinsight.com

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