Convenience is on the rise. In a fast-paced world where no one ever stops, consumers strive for convenience solutions in all aspects of their lives. Driven by these drastic, fast-paced changes in consumer demand, every player along the food industry value chain will have to change if they want to remain relevant. Convenience means maximizing efficiency and leveraging timesaving potential for the customer before, during and after purchasing their orders, products, and services.
Expanding convenience portfolio
Merchants will expand the breadth and depth of their product range by adding a delivery partner that is diversified in what they can deliver, the different services they can provide, the different industries and merchant types they can provide services for (booking/reservations), and pricing that allows their store's profits to grow.
Demand for flexibility and always available, diverse meals
Consumers expect restaurants to offer a large variety of products regardless of the season.
Challenges for merchants
As products, distribution, and delivery formats change due to the convenience demands of consumers, merchants face a wide range of challenges. The big question for merchants is what do they need to change in order to meet these demands, and how do they need to adapt their operations in order to stay relevant in this highly competitive market?
Trend scouting, co-creation and rapid product development
A large challenge for merchants is to anticipate consumer trends and create relevant products in a timely manner. They often lack direct contact with the end consumers, because 3rd party delivery companies act as intermediaries.
Merchants therefore need to invest time and effort into fully understanding consumer needs even before a trend emerges. Since they do not have direct access to customers, having a close relationship with their delivery partners could provide highly valuable insight into the consumer.
Start with the right questions
As a starting point, merchants should use the following questions as
a quick check to see if they are positioned to win in the convenience food delivery market.
Are you able to anticipate end consumer trends and bring new products to market quickly?
Do you have the right pricing strategies to optimally serve your customers across multiple diverse taste, wants, and needs?
Does your delivery partner's logistics capabilities reflect the customers' needs in terms of locations and high delivery frequency?
To gain a competitive advantage, merchants will have to come up with answers to these questions. Only those who are able institute the right changes in their business model will ultimately benefit from the increasing demand for convenience food delivery solutions.
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