2017 Mobile + Virtual vs Foodservice Retailers

Restaurant chains, grocery store chains, Drug store chains, and Convenience stores are all under pressure from virtual outlets.  Those mobile or virtual retailers are closer to your current customers even if that customers lives right next door, above your store, or behind your store.  Today there is at least one foodservice competitor located in the palm of your customers hand inside their smart phone according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Legacy brick-and-mortar retailers are not going to disappear overnight, however by the end of 2017 there will be fewer chain restaurant locations, fewer chain grocery store locations, and fewer chain drug store locations than there were in 2016.  There may well be more overall retail locations given the resurgent start-up community in each retail sector fueled by technology entrepreneurs and independent operators.

The common undercurrent driving success in 2017 will be the need for branded digital mobile messaging to thrive. Legacy retailers will have to focus on Mobile first as companies the ilk of Macy’s, Sears, The Limited, K-Mart close stores.

Malls will become less attractive to consumers and restaurant chains in the mall and on the ‘pads’ around the mall will all suffer continued customer count declines. Simply put mobile is fresher, faster, and in the palm of your hand already and according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® “consumers move forward not backward and consumer’s value hand held ‘real estate’ over brick and mortar”   Here are some facts:

1.       Consumers in 2015 spent an average of 126 minutes on their mobile phone every day – double the time they spent just two years earlier.

2.       Today, one in three online purchases is made from a smartphone, and nine out of 10 consumers have used their mobile device in-store. Also, eight in 10 purchased made have been influenced by mobile.

3.       By 2020 global marketplaces will own 39% of the online retail market were taking companies the ilk of Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay.

4.       Many retailers including mobile retailers are still grasping at functionality, with only 22 percent offering an option to send bricks-and-mortar location directions via SMS to a consumer’s mobile device.

5.       L2's Intelligence Report: Omnichannel Retail 2016 found "Sales associates are the face of your store experience—and ultimately your brand—while technology is a tool that can be used by both HQ and in-store to enhance value.”  In-store associates need the same technology as HQ and the customer i.e. hand held marketing, inventory, shipping and fulfillment capabilities. 

6.       Fifty-eight percent of retailers auto-detect a consumer’s location based on IP address and 48 percent filter store locators by product category or service.

7.       Mobile augmented-reality (AR) won’t hit the mainstage in 2017 however if you are not testing AR in 2017 you will not be able to compete with companies and technologies like AR, Virtual Reality (VR)  and RFID as start to take hold in mainstream.

Consumers seeking instant gratification, time savings, and discovery want to personalize, customize and visualize there experience and mobile marketing, messaging, and mail edified with AR, VR, and RFID will drive customer relevance, top line sales, and bottom line profits.

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.usor visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.