Findings

Findings

Notably, the internet has turned out to be an important part of our present lives. Besides, online shopping for groceries and other household items is an inherent bit of our lifestyle. Inasmuch as online grocery shopping keeps growing, various challenges have been presented, which is why most consumers are reluctant to adopt this mode of purchasing items. However, in Canada, over seventy percent stated comfort and efficiency as their core motivations for purchasing groceries online. Nonetheless, about eighteen percent indicated that their physical locations constrained them from conducting in store purchases. With the current transformations, consumers have turned out to be technologically shrewd leading to a wider usage of mobile phones and the internet.

Markedly, the desire to buy organic food is importantly affected by the perception of the consumer in terms of safety, environmental constituents, and health (Wee et al. 2014). With the rise of Covid 19 infections, majority of the consumers are cautious about the safety of their health hence shifting to online shopping. At the same time, some still favor the kind of experience that they gained from making in store purchases including interconnecting with the salespeople and looking out for sensational simulation (Terblanche, 2018). Such factors pose as challenges to Metro as it tries to put its grocery products to the online market. Nonetheless, the Metro online grocery application entails characteristics such as home delivery alternatives, deals and entry forms as well as comparative pricing which seem enticing to most of the consumers.

Significantly, one key advantage of purchasing grocery through the online market is that it is easy to place various orders within a short duration. Fifty percent of the respondents preferred online shopping due to the high availability of smartphones as well as the internet. Also, the aspect of saving time was appreciated by majority of the respondents due to the minimization of parking difficulties in the metropolis and massive traffic jams when heading to the groceries store. In addition, the newer clients loved online shopping because of the variety of products and discounts offered by the firm. Also, some of the respondents who had small children preferred purchasing groceries from the online store since they found it difficult to go with the kids for shopping. Lastly, a minor number of respondents, around six percent, stated that they disliked shopping at the grocery store due to the long queues thus, they preferred doing it online.

Nonetheless, about four percent of the respondents hardly felt the importance of purchasing groceries through the online portal. According to them, they used a similar amount of time to shop although they were still positive about the online market and expected to save more time in future after they had gained enough experience. Also, most of the respondents complained about the ineffectiveness of the online purchase system. The consumers had issues with the delay of their delivery packages as well as other technical hitches on the system in terms of varying prices on similar products which confused them while making decisions on what to purchase. Besides, complains concerning the unfreshness of the grocery was also highlighted. Consumers preferred making in store purchases so that they can physically gauge the freshness of the products that they are yet to purchase but the online shopping denies them such opportunities.

Importantly, twenty-eight percent of the respondents raised concerns about the pricing disparity. According to them, the online store charges more fees compared to purchasing in the in stores. The addition of the delivery fees on the products makes them to appear quite expensive thus, some of the individuals who are situated near the in stores prefer to walk in and purchase their products rather than placing an online order. In addition, most of the respondents had an issue with accepting the new technology. They grumbled about client satisfaction because most of them are not educated in terms of internet usage thus, they find online shopping to be a bit difficult and biased to their needs. In relation to the Metro retailer, the transformation to online shopping required them to channel more finances on the storage facilities, transportation means, and delivery workforce including the containers used for delivery, installation of the purchase and delivery systems, and the unique warehouses. This implies that transitioning from an in store to an online market or having both is quite expensive for most of the retailers.

Analysis

Based on the interviews, social platforms reviews, and questionnaire responses, most of the individuals are adapting to the current online service. This adaptation is as a result of the existence of Covid 19 since the public is paranoid about contracting the disease. Also, the government regulation on maintenance of social distancing has led to most of the consumers shifting to online stores because presently, they are more convenient and stress free. Besides, the health safety that comes along with making online purchases has made more people to opt for the service. Given that majority of the public has shifted to making online purchases, the demand for this service has also grown compared to that of the in store services. According to the sales report, since the outbreak of the Covid 19 disease Metro has been able to make more online sales with an increase of $125 million (Redman, 2020). This is because most of the consumers have limited the in store visits.

According to the platform reviews, most of the consumers had not adapted the system. Given that the online system has just been initiated during the onset of Covid 19, the public has not had enough time to understand its operations. Besides, the launched mobile application is hardly five months in the market, correspondingly, most of the individuals have not even downloaded it. Therefore, the existence of a knowledge gap amongst the consumers has led to the rise in the number of complaints because online purchases require a lot of computer and internet knowledge. Additionally, other respondents grumbled of the existence of online stressors in the Metro online system. Since the system is current and most of the staff are being trained while at work issues such as inaccessibility of the website, inconsistency in the availability of products online, errors in order filling, and difficulties in returning commodities have been frequent. As a result, they consumers would rather the long queues in the groceries stores than the online hassle.

From the consumer responses, the shipping of the online grocery is time consuming and quite expensive. Metro launched its online store due to the presence of the Covid 19 outbreak because it wanted to serve its client even amidst the pandemic. Launching an online store requires a lot of investments in terms of the refrigerators, delivery containers, vehicles, unique warehouses, and specific system for making deliveries. Since the firm was not so prepared for the online market, they are experiencing difficulties with making fast deliveries due the absence of dry ice boxes and enough transportation vehicles that enable the groceries to be delivered while they are still fresh. Also, the expenses required in maintaining the system and fixing everything in place is a lot more thus leading to high delivery and grocery charges.

Comparison

Conclusion

Ultimately, from the analysis the online grocery shopping industry is experiencing a rapid growth. This growth is as a result of the present situation of the Covid 19 pandemic that has pushed majority of the consumers to the online market. As a result of the increase in the number of online client’s pressure is likely to be channeled to this particular market to expand their capabilities. Correspondingly, Metro will invest in the recruitment of more staff member who will have to be trained on how to effectively handle the system. Also, the firm will need to advance its technology to match with the needs of the consumers. Besides, metro has to increase its capacity and upgrade the delivery system to meet the high demand. Given that the number of its clients is likely to rise more, the firm need to invest in more transportation vehicles and facilities to cut on time wasted in product transit. Above all, timely delivery boosts the confidence of clients hence recommending other to make more online purchases.

Recommendations

• Based on the online hassle experienced by the respondent, Metro firm has to invest more in training its staff. Employee training is significant because they will be able to work efficiently and save on time in terms of handling client requests and complaints.
• Secondly, Metro can corporate with a third party company that will help it in managing the online transactions. Outsourcing a transport firm will help the firm to make timely deliveries and also cut on the transportation costs associated with purchase of more vehicles and employment of delivery personnel. Also, this will enable the firm to concentrate on its core business because the outsourced firm will streamline the transport operations.
• Thirdly, Metro online grocery can establish other delivery options that are flexible. Since most of the consumers have raised concerns about the long delivery duration, the firm can come up with a self-pick-up delivery and the direct delivery models. This will be beneficial to those clients who are not far from the stores because they will only need to place an order and go for the products when they are already packaged hence not wasting time to queue and wait.

References

Redman, R. (2020). Metro Q2 Results Boosted by Coronavirus-fueled Sales. Supermarket News. Retrieved from www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/metro-q2-results-boosted-coronavirus-fueled

Terblanche, N. S. (2018). Revisiting the Supermarket in-store customer shopping experience. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 40, 48-59.

Wee, C. S., Ariff, M. S. B. M., Zakuan, N., Tajudin, M. N. M., Ismail, K., & Ishak, N. (2014). Consumer perception, purchase intention and actual purchase behavior of organic food products. Review of Intergrative Business and Economics Research, 3(2), 378.