Gaurav Sawhney speaking during "The Future of Retail".
“The shopping journey has become more complex,” noted Gaurav Sawhney, senior retail analyst for Planet Retail, a global intelligence provider for retailers. Speaking at this year's PMA Fresh Connections event in Rotterdam, he explained the different ways that retailers can interact with consumers. Not only are those consumers online, finding information about the products they buy, but they're taking that information into the store with them when they buy goods. Consumers are always connected, and it's up to retailers to figure out ways to use that.
“Consumers want all and any information to make informed decisions,” pointed out Sawhney. “So are retailers providing the information they want? Are they offering loyalty programs? Do they have the prices consumers want? Consumers always have their mobile devices, so can they use them as a payment method?” More than anything, consumers want value, convenience and ease of shopping, and Sawhney asked those in attendance to constantly question if they're providing those things.
If retailers don't deliver on value, convenience and ease of shopping, then people outside of the industry could step in to deliver those things, noted Elena Ozeritskaya of Fresh Insight. She explained that e-commerce isn't about taking the offline world and replicating it online, but it's about using the internet to create value.
Panelist Elena Ozeritskaya from Fresh Insight, speaker Gaurav Sawhney from Planet Retail and moderator Harrij Schmeitz, Fresh Informationmanagement Center.
“Companies such as Uber, for example, are aiming at the convenience sector,” said Ozeritskaya. “They're targeting a specific segment and using e-commerce to go after it.” But moving into the new world is not straightforward, noted panel moderator Harrij Schmeitz, director of the Fresh Information Management Center.
E-commerce has lured shoppers with overnight delivery, satisfaction guarantees and loose return policies. His question to the panel was whether the fresh produce industry, with its perishable goods and complicated supply chains, can enter such a world.
“The challenge is to deliver good, consistent quality online,” said Schmeitz. “When the product is delivered to your home, can you send it back if you're disappointed? Packaging is also a challenge; we want to protect the product, but we also want to less packaging for environmental reasons.” But he also pointed to immense benefits of e-commerce related to stocking issues. Right now, there is only so much space on the retail floor for fresh produce, but if a retailer gets a larger online presence, then the amount of stock that retailer can deliver to online shoppers can be much bigger. Those are issues that are still being ironed out, and in the meantime, there is much that retailers can do online that doesn't involve building out entirely new fulfillment networks.
Harrij Schmeitz from Fresh Informationmanagement Center, discussing poll results during "The Future of Retail".
“There are lots of success stories of retailers using social media,” said Sawhney. “It's a way to get consumers to discover new products.” Ozeritskaya also mentioned food channels on Youtube that can pique interest online and lead people to certain products. But, as with everything else, retailers must find where consumers are and what they want.
“Social media has different platforms, and every company needs to find the platforms that suit them,” said Sawhney. “Not everyone needs to have everything on Facebook, and Twitter is good for sending updates. It's about finding what platform works best for you and then marketing through that platform. You need to be where consumers are, otherwise, you're wasting your time.”