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Survey: Grocery stores need to ‘enter the modern age’

Consumers demand more use of technology to enhance shopping experience

Russell Redman

April 1, 2019

4 Min Read
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Many consumers think grocery retailers need to do more to modernize the shopping experience, according to new research from cooling technology provider Phononic.

Of 1,118 consumers polled for the company’s 2019 Store of the Future study, 51% believe that if grocery stores don’t “enter the modern age,” more people will seek other ways to buy food.

Similarly, 41% of respondents said grocery stores don’t leverage technology as well as other retailers, while 40% think grocery stores “haven’t changed in decades” and need to adapt to the modern age.

“This should be a wakeup call to the industry,” Phononic's report said.

In terms of how technology could be used to improve shopping, 89% of consumers surveyed want grocery stores to make checkout faster, and 83% want them to make shopping faster. The same percentage (83%) believes grocery stores can leverage technology to provide more choices, while 69% said grocery retailers could provide better meal ideas via more creative tech use.

“In just the past year, we have witnessed a huge amount of disruption in the food retail landscape as Amazon continues to put pressure on traditional grocers to differentiate the customer experience and offer increased in-store efficiency,” Dana Krug, vice president and general manager of food and beverage for Durham, N.C.-based Phononic, said in a statement. “Consumers’ feedback demonstrates the need for grocers to embrace technology options that make the shopping experience easier and more enjoyable.”

Related:Shoppers still cool to grocery pickup and delivery, survey finds

However, consumers have noticed grocery retailers’ efforts to advance the shopping experience. Phononic said its 2019 survey showed a slight improvement in attitudes about grocers’ technology adoption. The percentage of consumers who think grocery stores need to enter the modern age dropped from 56% in last year’s study to 51% this year. Likewise, the share of consumers who feel grocery stores haven’t changed in decades dipped from 48% in 2018 to 40% in 2019.

“It’s a safe bet that these numbers will continue to improve as the industry heavyweights bring innovations to market and smaller players catch up,” according to the report.

Eighty percent of consumers polled recognize grocery retailers’ efforts to offer more hot and cold prepared foods. Meanwhile, 77% believe grocers have instilled a “modern feel” in their stores, and 70% say retailers do a commendable job in pairing complementary foods. Another 65% approve of stores’ efforts to offer healthier and/or fresh options at checkout.

In addition, 63% of consumers say grocery stores offer “robust and user-friendly” apps for in-store assistance, while 78% think store operators know how to make buying groceries an easier and/or more efficient process.

Related:Study: Convenience not a given in online grocery

“As we look towards the future, it’s clear that consumers have some high demands for the technology applications they expect grocers to invest in, from cashierless checkout to self-driving car delivery,” Krug added.

In canvassing consumers about how they expect grocery shopping to change over the next five years, 86% said mobile apps will allow people to scan groceries as they shop and then pay for them without having to go through checkout. Seventy-nine percent expect most supermarkets to become primarily self-checkout.

Over three-quarters of Americans (76%) think that in the next five years more brick-and-mortar stores will offer ways to auto-replenish basics. Two-thirds (66%) say there will be pop-up and/or mobile supermarkets in urban and rural areas to make it easier to shop.

Phononic noted that a lot of consumers foresee changes in store formats. Sixty-two percent expect to see entire stores dedicated to prepared meals to go, while 48% believe that supermarkets could evolve from large, multi-purpose stores to smaller, specialized stores.

Regarding where consumers will shop, the study revealed that roughly equal numbers expect to buy more groceries in traditional supermarkets (25%) and big-box stores (24%). Nineteen percent will shop more online and pick up orders at stores, while 17% will shop more online from traditional grocers and have their items delivered. Over one in 10 (13%) indicated that they will shop more on Amazon for groceries.

Interestingly, 9% believe groceries will be delivered by self-driving vehicles, and 56% expect groceries to be delivered this way within five years.

“Like many other industries, the grocery business is bracing for change,” Phononic said in its report. “As more shopping options present themselves, consumers are feeling more empowered. They are raising their voices to let their preferences be known, and retailers are scrambling to serve consumers’ needs.”

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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