According to a recent survey, fresh produce is the main deciding factor for the shoppers to choose where to shop. So, when it comes to shopping for fresh produce, it might be interesting to envision where we are heading.
Most of the buying will be done online
No, you don’t have to walk down a few blocks to get to your nearest supermarket. All that you’ll have to do for your grocery shopping is just sit in front of your computer or use the phone in your hand and, shop for your entire weeks' worth of groceries, delivered right to your door. While this is not particularly an alien idea, thanks to online stores like Fresh Direct and Peapod, to name a few, many of us will find ourselves doing this more often than we do now – a Business Insider report says. According to this report, online purchases of groceries will reach an estimated $18 billion by 2018.
The smartphone will become your trusted sidekick in grocery shopping
Mobile technology is growing at such a fast pace that if we somehow manage to leave the house without our devices, we turn around and get them before going a step further. The thought of being without our handheld “Internet machines” is impossible to bear. Almost two-thirds of today’s smartphone owners are already using their phones for grocery shopping, and this number will only increase. While today these devices are mostly used for making the grocery list, they will soon become your deal finders, expense trackers, calorie counters, recipe generators, method of payment and more. In a nutshell, smartphones will become an integral part of your grocery shopping experience.
Tracking the best discounts will be a breeze
Which store is offering the best discounts? Which are the discounted products on offer at a particular store? You’ll have the answers at your fingertips. With advanced mobile technology, your ability to dig deeper into the best discounts available in the market will increase significantly.
You’d get offers based on your preferences
Which items are featured on your list of must-haves? Your devices will know that you love a certain brand of fresh roasted coffee beans, the gluten-free local bread, and which organic cereals you prefer. Offers will be served up based on your preferences, which your devices will learn over time—and in a relatively short period of time. You’ll know which of your favorite products are on discount as soon as you enter a store. A recent story in the UK’s Daily Mail gave a sneak peek into the future of shopping, where personalized offers will be pinged to the shoppers’ mobile device when they step into a store—this is really just a heartbeat away from all of us as it relates to our grocery shopping experience.
You’d be able to buy those hot-selling produces, finally
Do you routinely struggle to lay your hands on those best-selling products? Well, that’s going to change soon. Your smartphone will notify you of the products that are flying off the shelf, so you can sample some for yourself before they run out of stock.
All of the foregoing was just a glimpse into the right on the horizon future for all of us as it relates to the grocery shopping experience in general. And it’s definitely enough to tell us how shopping for the best produce will not be the only thing on shoppers’ minds in the future. Technology will be a main driver of the future of the grocery experience.
What do you think? Is this appealing to you as a convenience and a time-saver or is it a privacy violation and an intrusion into personal space that you’d rather do without? We’d love to hear what you think.