How technology is changing the way we do groceries?

En Español

​Who would imagine a store where you pick your groceries and just leave without going to the cashier? The future is now. Tech companies, supermarket chains, and thought-leading visionaries are working to reinvent your trip to the grocery store. It's been years of people going to one supermarket for all their shopping, but that is changing:
Online, personalized purchases.According to the Nielsen Global Report, “The Future of Grocery”, one-quarter of online respondents say they order grocery products online, and 55% are willing to do so in the future. Growth of online grocery shopping is driven in part by the maturation of the digital natives—Millennials and Generation Z. They are not just calling to order groceries, they better use the seller mobile app. Online retailers can fulfill unique customer needs, such as the desire for better-for-you foods as well as specialty-needs products.  Additionally, in the last couple of years, the market has been flooded with app-based grocery delivery companies like Instacart, AmazonFresh, Google Express App, which basically pick food from a variety of vendors and have it delivered to your door. So, will clicks replace bricks? Not so fast. For many food buyers (including myself), there are powerful sensory experiences we don´t want to lose, like smelling freshly baked bread or checking for freshness of perishable products. At least for now, that is impossible to replicate online.  
Smart carts & shopping apps. To compete with online purchases, some retailers are working on a prototype that is not new, tablet-laden smart carts with kinetic and body recognition sensors, which can provide aisle maps, calculate the best route through the store, tick items off your shopping list, give you recipe recommendations, and even save you for pushing a heavy cart. On the other hand we have lots of available grocery shopping apps in our smart phones like Anylist, Buy Me a Pie!, Grocery iQ and some retailers own apps. These are designed to create grocery shopping list, share lists with others, use coupons, find deals, store recipes and organize your meals. 

Amazon Go Store

​Cashier-less stores.Amazon Go, an innovative concept that’s being piloted in a downtown Seattle grocery store that lets customers walk in, grab food from the shelves and simply walk out again, without ever having to wait in a checkout line, no cash or credit cards, just you need your phone and the company account. Walmart already launched (in two locations) the app Scan & Go where customers scan items with their phone as they shop, pay via the app and show the receipt from their phone on their way out.  
Recreating the supermarket experience. Companies are focusing on how to create an experience, a reason to come to the store (considering that potential customers are doing groceries online). Some supermarkets offer wellness and health services, while others have brew pubs and restaurants inside to attract millennials.