Point Click Eat

Three simple words that have changed the retail food spaced those words are POINT, CLICK, EAT.  In the beginning there was the movie The Net, staring Sandra Bullock.  In the film Bullock was on her computer, online and could order a pizza from her computer.  That got the founder of Pet Smart, Ford Smith and his friend Tim Glass thinking has it been done?  Can we do it?  Well they did and today more pizza is ordered online or mobile than on the phone or by walking in.  Even Domino’s Pizza who was one of the last pizza companies to adopt online ordering company-wide is now singing its praises as if it were something new.

How we buy food and where we buy food is changing rapidly. We are now in a branded Omni-channel retail environment and consumer are adapting to new avenues of distribution daily.  Are there legacy chain restaurants that may go the way of tower records, or bookstores?  We think some of them are showing signs of slippage now, justifying   down comps, mark share capitulation, blaming the economy, weather, gas prices and competition. In an Omni-Channel retail world Point, Click, and Eat continue to drive change.

While technology has been used to get people to buy restaurant food, today convenience stores the ilk of Casey’s General Store are using it to deliver fresh prepared pizza and driving top line growth.  C-stores ability to mix and match other items with pizza delivery can drive consumer satisfaction levels.  Casey’s General Stores top line revenue and bottom line profits continue to grow driven by increased frequency from sales of delivered fresh prepared food aka pizza.

Consumer today still like Point, Click, and Eat however more and more we are witnessing consumers doing the Point, Click, and Eat inside grocery stores.  There are pointing at fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh food.  In fact Whole Foods stores are expanding at a rate faster than grocery e-commerce with their fresh-food format and ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food stations at 13% plus.  Now fresh prepared food at Whole Foods is nearing 25% contributing 32% to the bottom line.  Where could those numbers go if Whole Foods delivered fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food outside of its catering program?

The grocery sector should abandon the outdated metric of “basket size”. Instead grocery stores should extend their  focus on fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food that can be delivered with other bundled products the ilk of gallon of milk, box of Cheerios, or a loaf of bread.  Why in 2013 does every delivery need to be $100.00 or an outrageous charge?  No need Casey’s, Pizza Hut, and Burger King can do it so can the grocery sector. 

If Whole Foods can change how legacy grocery stores sell food can your concept adapt in today’s world?  Have you ordered pizza lately?  All of us working with Ford Smith and Tim Glass helped change a stodgy food sector into one that can thrive with technology. 

Today the fastest growing retail food sector in every channel is ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food. Foodservice Solutions® has been leading the way.  Our experience working with technology companies that drive customers into restaurants, c-stores and grocery delis or food from each to the home has contributed to our on-going success understanding the undercurrents of the evolving food consumer and food space.

Consumers love to eating in restaurants but they want the option to bundle a meal for home as well.  Eating in the restaurant and having the menu on their iPad or iPhone can improve the speed of service both ordering and check out. Grocery stores and C-stores are now finding food that is fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-n-eat with portability and deliverable increased demand. 

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us  Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more or Steven Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant