A new report by Rabobank says that we will be buying 25% of our groceries online by 2025.
The report, ‘Wanted: ‘E-daptable’ Fresh Produce Suppliers’, says that a new era in online food shopping is arriving, and it will increasingly impact fresh fruit, vegetables and floriculture supply chains.
Just as tomorrow’s shopper will buy other groceries online, Rabobank says that he or she will also buy fresh produce online.
Suppliers that want to take advantage of this development have to adapt to the specific requirements of the e-shelf, it says.
While total retail sales are stagnant, Rabobank says that online grocery sales in western Europe are expected to double in the coming five years.
Looking further ahead, Rabobank expects that, in 2025, the share of online grocery shopping in total grocery shopping will be as high as 25%.
It goes on to say that the magnitude of this change will be similar to that of the rise of private label in the seventies and the rapid rise of hard discounters since the turn of the century.
Several developments indicate consumers’ increasing willingness to buy fresh produce online, it says.
Cindy van Rijswick, Rabobank Analyst said that for a long time consumers were accustomed to choosing their own fruit and vegetables in the store.
“Now, consumers are increasingly used to having their vegetables delivered to their doorstep: either via regular supermarkets and meal kit deliveries, or via specialised online fresh produce suppliers,” she said.
Fresh produce suppliers (of fruit, vegetables and floriculture) that respond proactively to this development could cash in, Rabobank says.
The various online channels for fresh produce offer several opportunities, Rabobank says these come in the form of increased shelf space, the option of adding information about the product, active screen management, cross-sell opportunities and fresher products via a shorter supply chain.
At the same time, suppliers may face challenges from increased competition and complexity, as well as changes to impulse-buying, it says.
