For
more than a decade, Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven
Johnson has documented a structural shift in how consumers discover, shop
for, and consume food. The original blog post correctly identified mobile as a
disruptive force; today, mobile is no longer disruptive—it is dominant. What
has changed since the mid-2010s is not simply technology adoption, but consumer
expectation, operational economics, and the role of physical retail itself.
This
update reframes the conversation with current food industry data, a historical
lens on what actually changed, and a forward view of what comes next at the
intersection of consumer behavior, technology, and fresh food with flavor.
A Historical View: What Changed Since “Mobile First” Became
Reality
In
2015–2017, mobile was described as “closer to your customer than the store next
door.” That framing underestimated how fast mobile would become the primary decision
engine for food.
Then
(2015–2017):
·
Mobile was a research, messaging, and
couponing tool.
·
Brick-and-mortar still owned the
transaction.
·
Digital ordering was incremental,
largely limited to pizza, QSR, and early delivery aggregators.
·
Retail square footage was shrinking
slowly; closures were viewed as cyclical.
Now
(2024–2025):
·
Mobile owns discovery, decision,
payment, and feedback.
·
Over 70% of U.S. restaurant
transactions are digitally influenced (ordering, loyalty, offers, or reviews).
·
Digital orders account for 35–45% of
sales at leading QSR and fast-casual brands; convenience stores and grocery
prepared food programs increasingly exceed 25%.
·
U.S. consumers spend more than 4.5
hours per day on smartphones, with food and retail apps among the top
engagement categories.
·
One-click reordering, subscription
meals, and algorithm-driven recommendations have reduced brand switching
friction to near zero.
The
prediction that there would be “fewer chain locations” proved accurate—but
incomplete. The reality is fewer traditional-format locations and more
digitally enabled food nodes: ghost kitchens, micro-fulfillment centers,
pickup-only stores, dark convenience stores, and hybrid grocerant formats.
The Current Landscape: Virtual Is No Longer the
Competitor—It Is the Front Door
Restaurant
chains, grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores are no longer
competing against virtual retail; they are competing inside it.
Key
food industry facts shaping today’s environment:
1. Mobile
as the Primary Food Interface
o More
than 80% of consumers use their phone during an in-store food purchase.
o Over
60% of Gen Z and Millennials discover new food items digitally before ever
seeing them in-store.
o Loyalty
apps now drive 50–70% of repeat visits for leading food retailers.
2. Marketplaces
and Aggregators Own Demand
o Digital
food marketplaces and delivery platforms control roughly 40% of online
foodservice demand, acting as demand aggregators rather than brand builders.
o Brands
that fail to build first-party mobile relationships increasingly “rent”
customers at rising commission rates.
3. Brick-and-Mortar
Is Being Repriced, Not Replaced
o Average
restaurant build-out costs have risen 30–40% since 2019.
o Labor
costs now consume 30–35% of restaurant sales in many markets.
o As
a result, physical stores must generate more digital transactions per square
foot to justify their existence.
4. Fresh
Food Has Become the Differentiator
o Prepared
foods are the fastest-growing profit center in grocery and convenience retail.
o Items
positioned as fresh, globally inspired, and chef-driven command price premiums
of 20–50% versus center-store alternatives.
o Flavor-forward
innovation now outperforms price discounting in driving trial among younger
consumers.
5. Technology
Has Moved From “Nice to Have” to Operational Infrastructure
o Location-aware
marketing, real-time inventory, AI-driven demand forecasting, and frictionless
checkout are table stakes.
o Augmented
reality, computer vision, and RFID are transitioning from pilots to operational
use in planograms, shrink reduction, and shopper guidance.
A Forward View: What Is Coming Next
Looking
ahead, the competitive battlefield will not be defined by store count, but by customer
relevance velocity—how fast a brand can respond to a consumer’s intent with
fresh food and flavor.
What
the next phase looks like:
·
Stores as fulfillment, not
destinations: Smaller footprints optimized for
pickup, speed, and last-mile efficiency.
·
Algorithmic merchandising:
Menus and assortments personalized by time of day, weather, dietary preference,
and purchase history.
·
Blended realities:
AR-enhanced menus, nutritional visualization, and product storytelling embedded
directly into mobile ordering.
·
Fewer brands, more choice:
Paradoxically, consumers will interact with fewer parent companies while
experiencing more variety through virtual brands and rotating food programs.
In
this environment, “mobile versus brick-and-mortar” is the wrong debate. The
winning brands will treat physical locations as extensions of mobile,
not the other way around.
Three Grocerant Guru Insights: Consumer × Technology ×
Fresh Food with Flavor
1.
Fresh Food Is the New Media Channel
Consumers no longer respond to advertising alone; they respond to edible
content. Fresh, flavor-forward food—photogenic, customizable, and globally
inspired—is what earns mobile engagement, social sharing, and repeat purchase.
Brands that underinvest in flavor innovation cannot out-market their way to
relevance.
2.
Technology Must Compress Time, Not Add Friction
The consumer’s definition of convenience is speed-to-satisfaction. Mobile
ordering, personalization, and fulfillment must remove steps, not introduce
novelty for novelty’s sake. AR, AI, and RFID only matter when they shorten
decision time and increase confidence in food choice.
3.
Ownership of the Customer Relationship Is the Profit Lever
Marketplaces drive volume; first-party mobile platforms drive margin. The
brands that win will use technology to reclaim customer data, personalize fresh
food offerings, and build habitual meal participation—not one-off transactions.
Think About This
Consumers
still value physical food—but only when it is faster, fresher, more flavorful,
and digitally effortless. Mobile is not replacing brick-and-mortar; it is
redefining its economic purpose. The future belongs to retailers who understand
that the most valuable real estate is no longer the storefront—it is the space
on the consumer’s home screen.
Foodservice
Solutions® continues to help brands apply the 5P’s of Food Marketing to
build platforms for convenient meal participation, differentiation, and
individualization in a mobile-first world.
Are you ready for some fresh ideations?
Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested
in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while
creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization? Email us
at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the
following links: Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter
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