New Six Feet Economy in Grocery Retail - Strategies for Growth and Consumer Satisfaction.

There is no Post Covid 19 term, at least in theoretical reality, either, there was a reality of pre-covid 19 or living with covid 19 now for next few years. This stark fact has been understood very well by the Retail Industry, especially the Grocery Retail segment where consumers have higher shopping frequency or refill rates. The advent of living with covid 19 has given birth to a new term of business called “Six Feet Economy” and invariably all the Grocers around India either in Modern Trade or General Trade or aggregation have realized that they need to adhere to the rules of this Six Feet Economy of social distancing and added precautions, if they need to serve their consumers any more.

The new “Six Feet Economy” is all about having mechanism and technology enabled interfaces that can assure consumers for a contactless, but still, engaging shopping experience at the neighborhood grocery stores or KIRANA stores or a perfect fill rate driven online shopping experience to their satisfaction. The retailers need to quickly adapt to various strategies that can assure their consumers for the above. So, what could be those strategic initiatives that can help a grocer, a retail chain or a network of retail stores ensure the rules of Six Feet Economy and the safety of their consumers?

1.      Technology is not an additional feature now, it is a bare minimum requirement to stay in business- Yes, it’s a new normal and a new reality now, Technology adoption is not a luxury defined for a large chains or stores, it’s a bare minimum for every retail stores or KIRANA stores across the nation. They need to have systems and processes either on their own or through a network or brand where they can associate themselves, either a Retail POS system or a digital payment facility or scanning bar codes of articles in to an ERP system to generate orders. All these kind of tech interventions are necessary to survive in the era of social distancing and contact less shopping, as consumers may not like the fact that the grocer touches their products again and again while calculating the net amount on his calculator, and the process will also force the consumer to stay in the store for longer duration which is a no go zone now.

If you look closely at all the formats of technology as mentioned above, or the Omni channel practices fueled by tech like Click and Collect or Dial G for Grocery etc. They emanate from the same psychological stand point in consumer’s mind of bare minimum human contact in the grocery stores and if you can provide it then you are in their mind space else you have no way out there.

2.      Seamless Online Shopping Experience- Most of the consumers despite having 100% tick on the above point will still prefer to online shopping if the retailers can provide what they want in least possible time in right packaging. The UX is a clincher here, as the consumer will need to navigate flawlessly among categories and machine learning driven default suggestions , horizontal to the selected sku would be something that a consumer is looking for, nothing less.

Availability of the preferred sku and custom made home screen as per their shopping behavior and history would only add spice to the mix, and if you can do such interventions, you are in the game. The importance of same day delivery or at least next day delivery cannot be denied, because what consumers are looking for is- Faster slots. The data of online sales should be mined in a way where the replenishment to the stores have faster turnaround time. Being fast is the new rule of the game and quickly correcting the course with restructuring may be the golden rule of decisive difference between successful retailers and not so successful ones.

3.      Supply Chain with depth- The local brands will be performing at par or even better than brands in the new normal, as consumers being very choosy, will prefer the local assortment better than the imported ones now, and will prefer items which are “Closely manufactured” and supplied faster. Retailers need to acquire depth and resilience in their supply chain. The data of July and August 2020 has already suggested that the local brands are on spike versus their branded competitors. The presence of top moving “Loyalty Sku “ is a must and the ability to move the products horizontally across the network (Applied for the retail chains only) very quickly will determine the consumer stickiness factor.

4.      Branded and Clean Stores- Hygiene cannot be compromised by any retailer, either big or small, organized or unorganized, branded or local KIRANA stores. Consumer will prefer branded stores over the non-branded ones, and here I would specifically like to mention that with brand, consumer only perceive high level of hygiene and cleanliness in every visit, uniformity in cleaning process and a welcoming/healthy feeling in case he wants to drop in.Standalone stores who maintains pristine level of hygiene will stand equal chances also with their branded comrades.

5.      Automation and Innovation in Operating Process- What we thought as a distinct feature in the Indian Retail market, especially in the Grocery segment, would be a reality now when it comes to Automation in process. Various processes which can limit human contact or can provide contactless shopping would be much appreciated in the new normal, and either mobile applications that can help consumers locate the product on a specific shelf or an “On the go –Scanning app” which the consumer can use while navigating among the shelves to prepare his shopping cart at the POS so that he can quickly check out and doesn’t have to stand in some sort of line, would be the coveted prizes for the winner’s league.

Sensors installed in the shelves to alert consumers when they come in close proximity of another consumers would be called “out of the box innovations “in the new Six Feet Economy of Grocery Retail and we can only evolve better in this.

The Six Feet Economy is the new reality and the grocery retailers need to first accept it completely and then quickly align themselves to its norms, and if they cannot do it all by themselves, they could join a retail chain or retail network of stores but the rules needs to be adhered to for the game if they even just want to stay afloat.