Online grocery marketplace is currently trending and rapidly growing to become one of the most profitable forms of businesses in today’s time. In a recent survey conducted in technologically advanced countries, international polls suggested that more than 40% people prefer to do their grocery online. The rise in the trend of online grocery marketplaces is most evident after the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequent lockdowns.
What is an online grocery marketplace?
An online grocery marketplace is a virtual platform that allows users to experience retail shopping through their technological devices. These websites, applications or software enable users to choose their grocery items and pay for them in different methods and have the products delivered to their doorsteps. It is now becoming a popular business and the USa alone has more than 150 million online grocery shoppers and the trend is similar across the globe.
What are online grocery marketplaces so popular?
These virtual grocery stores are very popular due to the following reasons:
- Increased convenience due to not having to visit physical stores for every little item
- More flexible to add items and remove them from the cart online
- Matches the hectic and fast paced lives of individuals
- Multiple options to choose from online are suitable for shoppers compared to choosing items in a crowded store
How can you start your own online grocery marketplace?
Starting your own online grocery marketplace can be a great idea. You can run a profitable business and scale it successfully by just keeping in mind a few steps. Here are some of the basic guidelines that will help you start your business:
- Create a strategic roadmap and plan that will cover what your business goals are, who the target audience is, what locations you will cover, the legal documents, the inventory and stock, finances, and much more.
- Once all this is sorted, make sure to focus on marketing. With a lot of competition in the marketplace, you must create a strong brand identity to beat the competition.
- Invest in IT. As your business is online, make sure to have the best IT guys create your website and application. Ensure that it is user friendly and easy to access.
- Moreover, you must be customer centric. Your platform must ensure constant updates and proper communication with customers. Incorporate feedback and make sure to give them the best experience to increase the rate of customer satisfaction.
- Offer lots of variety of products and brands so that customers have the maximum possible high quality and affordable options available on a single platform so that they do not have to feel the need to go to a retail store.
- Increase the variety of payment options. Users are unwilling to shop online because their preferred option of payment is not always supported by users. By offering customers a variety of payment options including cash on delivery, you offer them increased flexibility and increased customer loyalty.
- Make sure that the delivery process and the billing is completely transparent and all charges of the online shopping experience are shared clearly with the customer.
- Invest in a delivery management software. Your online grocery marketplace must subscribe to a delivery management software that will increase the delivery efficiency and will also automate delivery processes, allowing you to focus on other aspects of the business, such as growth and profitability.
Shipox is a data-driven Delivery Management Platform that enables its users across a multitude of diverse industries to avail market competitive features and customer support in order to automate and perfect their delivery process. Shipox users are able to increase the efficiency of their delivery process, optimize their costs effectively, and enhance their customer experiences. To learn more, you can sign up for a quick demo here.