Page 51 - Green Builder May-June 2017 Issue

FUTURE KITCHENS: WHAT THE TRENDS SAY

Online Groceries: Peapod’s Revenge

Once considered a failed idea, online food distributors are now growing exponentially.

ACK IN 2010, the age of online groceries seemed to have
come and gone. The pundits announced the idea a non-
starter. For example, Forbes in 2011 explained that “Fami- Fresh Prepared
lies go to the grocery store together to browse the aisles
and plan their next week’s
meals. Single people even Market Surges
B visit specific stores in or-
der to attract potential dates. None of A key indicator of why online groceries are becoming
these activities are feasible with the more feasible is the fast-growing market for ready-made,
online shopping experience.” refrigeratable meals. Cooking-averse Americans are buying
Beware punditry. Back then, of instant meals in greater quantities every year. The market
course, smartphones were just becom- is segmented, still in flux. Millennials, especially, want
ing popular. Today, the whole digital
landscape has changed—not to mention the dynamics of families, locally grown or fresh foods, Tapping this niche is a new
and how younger people feel about cooking, eating and shopping. category of pre-made food called “fresh prepared,” sold
Online grocery shopping now appears likely to become more robust, as “restaurant quality” meals. New technology keeps these
not less. meals fresh longer, so some can be sold online, but they
still require reliable and precise cold storage in the kitchen.
International List of Online Grocers

1996 ■ ■ Mr Case Sales Growth in U.S. Food and Beverage Segments
■ ■ Kozmo
■ Peapod
■ 6–7% 2007–2012
(defunct but possibly
■ Webvan
■
re-launching) 5–6% 2012–2017
■ HomeRuns
■
■ ■ LeShop
2010 ■ ■ MySupermarket 3–4% 3–4%
■ Peapod ■ ■ NetTrolley
■
■ Ocado
■ 2–3%
2016 ■ PepperTap
Groups ■ 0–1%
Very Somewhat more likely ■ ■ AmazonFresh ■ ■ Peapod
excited excited Total to be excited: ■ ■ Asda ■ ■ Pink Dot SOURCE: TECHNOMIC ANALYSIS
■ Coles Online ■ Riverford Fresh Retail grocery Food
■ ■
An appliance that 43% 37% 80% Younger Adults ■ ■ el Grocer.com ■ ■ Sainsbury’s Online prepared food and service
turns raw ingredients foods beverages
■ ■ Farmdrop ■ ■ Safeway Inc.
into any meal
■ ■ FreshDirect ■ ■ SimonDelivers
Food with 40% 39% 78% Younger Adults, ■ ■ Good Eggs ■ ■ Smart and Final Current Market Penetration of Online Grocery Shopping
customizable College Degree ■ ■ Google Express ■ ■ Sustainable Produce
nutritional value/ ■ ■ Gousto ■ ■ Urban Delivery Japan ..............................7.2% Czech Republic ..........2.1%
calories ■ Tesco United Kingdom ......... 6.9% Spain .............................. 1.7%
■ ■ Grocery Gateway ■
France ...........................5.3% Netherlands ................. 1.7% DATA: KANTAR WORLDPANEL REPORT
A 3D printer that can 39% 30% 69% Younger Adults ■ ■ GroceryRun ■ ■ Thrifty Foods Taiwan ...........................5.2% United States ............... 1.4%
make any food you ■ ■ Grofers ■ ■ Waitrose
want from scratch ■ ■ Instacart ■ ■ Winder Farms China .............................4.2%
■ InstaBuggy ■ Yihaodian SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
■ ■ Late adopters. According to a study of online grocery shopping
has created a model where people buy individual items. But that is
Virtual Gold Rush. Perhaps the rocketing success of online vendors worldwide, the U.S. has been slower to embrace it because Amazon
such as Amazon has fueled corporate investment in online shopping. rapidly changing.
www.greenbuildermedia.com May/June 2017 GREEN BUILDER 49

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