COVID-19 or Novel coronavirus has impacted nearly every sector of the global market. The retail industry is one such stream that has been witnessing a high upsurge in demand and shortage of products. And with this recent surge in the demands for grocery items, the operational efficiency of the grocery owners dropped drastically. Hence, a more efficient and streamlined system became a significant need for today’s global era.
Not only this but with the increased cases of the coronavirus, people also stayed in their houses as a preventive measure to fight against coronavirus. Thus, only a fraction of people can go outside during and that too for a short period! As a result, people cannot get what they want, even though the products in the grocery stores are going in drains. So, what could be the solution?
Maybe, online shopping could help to solve the problems of both the users and the grocery owners. Yes, you heard it right! Online shopping, which, just six months ago, was considered a leisure service, has now become the necessity of the global world. From medicines to grocery items, an on-demand delivery app could solve many of the major problems of the people during these hard times. Let us learn more about the impact of COVID-19 on the retail sector and what grocers can do to improve their services and reduce their losses.
What Grocers Can Do Right Now To Improve Their Businesses?
As per the sources, the retail market of the US was predicted to grow by 4.4% in the year 2020. But the increased cases of the coronavirus reduce this growth to nearly half of what was predicted, i.e., to 2.2%. Hence, to reduce their losses and improve their customer services, the grocery store owners need to partner with an experienced software engineering firm. Why? An experienced software engineering firm can help the grocery store owners to enhance their services and could enable them to help the people in a more efficient way. They can provide an on-demand application, with custom features, that perfectly matches the industry standards and satisfies the needs of the modern day man. From supply chain management to contactless delivery, a software engineering firm, with its feature-rich application, could help you streamline every aspect of your retail business.
Let us look at some top features of an on-demand grocery delivery app.
Features of On-demand Grocery Delivery App
To continue to support their consumers and staff, in regards to COVID-19, the retail business owners need to invest in a grocery delivery app. Here are a few features that you should keep in mind while developing one:
Admin Panel
1. Dashboard
This module helps you manage and track the orders and activities to make your grocery business streamlined and also provides you vital details of the areas that need improvements.
2. Assign Managers
This amazing functionality allows you to add the managers in the workplace for delivering excellent customer experience and also offers you details over the efficiency of each manager.
3. Order Management
With order management features, the store owners and managers can seamlessly track and manage their orders while leveraging the accept or reject functionality.
4. Customer Portal
You can efficiently manage your valuable customers from a single place and ensure the highest client satisfaction with this robust functionality.
5. Online Payments
A secured and trusted online payment module that offers your customers to pay for your products anytime and anywhere, using digital platforms like PayPal, credit cards, etc.
6. Delivery Notifications
You can seamlessly find the delivery request along with the order number and other associated delivery details using this amazing feature of the on-demand grocery delivery app.
7. Requests Management
The drivers in the system can view the order requests and can even accept/ cancel them as per their routes using this powerful functionality.
8. Location Tracking
The feature enables your driver to track the exact location of the delivery for enhanced services and to check the delivery charges and optimized routes for reaching there.
User Panel
1. Registration
The app should be user-friendly and should enable your users to register seamlessly using just the vital details like email, contact number, and password.
2. Item Browsing
Using this feature, the customer can seamlessly browse various items offered by your grocery store, along with the search functionality option.
3. Delivery Location
The customers, for efficient delivery, need to update their delivery address, which they can do using this fantastic functionality, which comes with Google Maps integration.
4. Add to Cart
If any customer likes a particular item but does not want to purchase that at the moment, then they can add it in their cart for future purchase using the add to cart option.
5. Place Order
This powerful functionality enables the users to purchase any item showcased in your store seamlessly by entering their delivery address and other necessary details. They can even purchase them as guest user.
6. Order History
With order history option, the customers can view their past orders and can track their current orders seamlessly for future purchases.
7. Online Payments
That is the most crucial feature in any on-demand delivery app. The online payment module helps the user to pay for their purchases using any digital payment method like PayPal, credit cards, etc.
8. Ratings and Reviews
Ratings and reviews option makes your online store more efficient by enabling the customers to rate and review various products they have purchased from your online store.
So, these were some of the features that an online grocery delivery app should have. If you have any doubts or are willing to know more about it, you can seamlessly contact us. We, at Matellio, can help you transform your ideas into reality.
How Will COVID-19 Affect The Growth Of Online Grocery Stores?
Having talked about the online grocery delivery app, let us now learn how the COVID-19 will affect the growth of the online retail stores. Many of the users experienced the power of online delivery, mostly during their life-changing events. These events included the birth of a child or the inability to visit the market due to ill health. Coronavirus is also one such event that has made the common public unable to visit markets to purchase their day-to-day used items. The online grocery stores, which were in trend from 2011 (approx), will now be the most trending thing because of the lockdown and the increased need for groceries.
Given the COVID-19 crisis, many of the retailers are already adapting online services to enhance their customer services. The grocery store owners are encouraging online orders for their valuable clients who wanted to stay at home to protect themselves and their families. Having talked about the growth of online grocery stores, here are two significant factors that retailers should consider to grow their online business.
1. Make Online Shopping More Attractive
According to recent sources, around 95% of US families use at least one of the online grocery delivery services. However, the percentage of the users that used those services was only 19% in the year 2019. So, the retail owners should know that to increase the traffic on their online stores; they should add some alluring offers on their applications. These attractive offers make a user more interested in the shopping and hence, increases the chances of buying from your store. Also, these offers may turn a guest user into your future valuable client.
2. Not Always Love At First Use
It is to be noted that not every user loves your app at first sight. Meaning, there may be times that out of 100 users, only 40 of them are your regular consumers, whereas rest 60 is the first time users. So, retailers need to understand that only those users who have completed at least three or more than three purchases with them are their faithful customers and will surely repeat their purchases from them. The rest of the first-time users will require some time to leverage their useful and time-saving tools like past orders and suggestions.
3. Learn From A First-time User
While having talked about first-time users, there is a lot more that retailers can learn from them. The online store owners need to carefully work on their applications to provide the best experience to their users. Moreover, they should frequently work on their online system considering client feedback.
Looking Forward: The Aftermath Of COVID-19
The coronavirus outbreak has undoubtedly taught us many things, and the importance of the grocery supply chain is one of them. We learned that the grocery industry is a vital component in keeping the population sustained, and online apps have become a significant part of that. Clearly, while investigating the current scenario, it became quite clear that today’s generation needs online stores. It has become one of the essential services that the modern world needs today, especially in the time of crisis like the present-day condition.
Hence, to ensure the future growth of their online retail business and to overcome the losses due to such a crisis, the grocery shop owners need to invest in a scalable online system. That will ensure increased margins, optimized profits, and better shopper experience. Secondly, they need to properly understand the complexities of the delivery system to manage their delivery services appropriately and to control them efficiently. Lastly, with critical and valuable user data, retailers can plan their future strategies and can grow their business while helping people simultaneously during the hard times.
All these crucial points can be seamlessly covered by investing in an on-demand grocery delivery app. An on-demand grocery delivery app offers sufficient features that make your business a hit in the global market. It has vital functionalities that can make your store stand out of the competitive market. So, think wisely and make better decisions for your business. Also, if you want to know more about the online grocery delivery app, then feel free to contact us at www.matellio.co.uk
