Studies that measure the impact of proximity aren’t always consistent. Some say proximity’s impact is overstated, while others report it’s a primary factor of shopper choice. One finding is consistent—once the shopper has decided on the retailer (for example: a low-price or upscale retailer), proximity becomes an important influencer on the path to a purchase decision. But that was before e-commerce.
<p>By Doug Baker, Vice President, Industry Relations - Private Brands, Technology for Food Marketing Institute<br /> <img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/proximity-to-eshoppers.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=56dd4e6e_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="Proximity to eShoppers" title="Proximity to eShoppers" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" /></p> <p>Over the years, millions of dollars have been spent to discern the path to purchase and what motivates a shopper to choose one retailer over another. Was it the way the retailer marketed itself? Was it presentation of the shelf or display? Good old customer service?</p> <p>Studies that measure the impact of proximity aren’t always consistent. Some say proximity’s impact is overstated, while others report it’s a primary factor of shopper choice. One finding is consistent—once the shopper has decided on the retailer (for example: a low-price or upscale retailer), proximity becomes an important influencer on the path to a purchase decision. But that was before e-commerce.</p> <h5>Proximity’s Impact on a Retailer’s Identity</h5> <p>Proximity has always been inextricably linked to a retailer’s brick-and-mortar brand. If that were not the case, there would be no such thing as the neighborhood market or locally targeted assortments. In the e-commerce world, proximity is omni-present…measured not in miles, but in the inches between fingertip to keyboard. Local consumer goods and products can now be enjoyed anywhere in the world.</p> <p>The average retailer who has been in e-commerce for a while is still only seeing <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/1915/us-consumers-online-grocery-shopping/">three to four percent of its sales generated by the Internet</a>. However, it is <a href="https://www.fmi.org/digital-shopper">projected that the grocery e-commerce business will boom to more than $100 billion by 2022</a>. Four or five years from now, grocery e-commerce will represent the equivalent of 3,900 brick-and-mortar stores. Waiting on a strategy, or embarking on a flawed one regarding proximity, is simply not an option.</p> <h5>Getting into the eProximity Game</h5> <ul> <li><strong>eProximity Means Offering an Actual Purchasing Capability</strong>—Many retailers today still force e-shoppers to execute too many clicks before an order can be placed.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>eProximity Means a Seamless Shopping Experience</strong>—“Island syndrome,” where the e-shopper must navigate through multiple clicks and sign-ins to complete the shopper experience, kills eProximity. Brick-and-mortar proximity is naturally linked to convenience, and nothing in the world of e-commerce should change that. A shopper should not have to go to one place to plan, another to buy, one to clip coupons, another to view recipes.</li> </ul> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">Rob Christian, senior vice president of client engagement at <a href="http://mywebgrocer.com/">MyWebGrocer</a> says, “non-seamless buying experience ranks amongst the top reasons for e-grocery cart abandonment. E-Shoppers want what brick-and-mortar has been giving them for decades—a seamless, easy to navigate, friendly buying experience. Why should e-commerce be any different?”</p> <ul> <li><strong>eProximity Means Mobility</strong>—Today’s shopper is a moving target. Therefore, e-commerce solutions must include a seamless mobile solution. Shoppers who are on the go want to link what they do at home with what they do in a coffee shop, with what they do in brick-and-mortar, and so on.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>eProximity Means Targeting</strong>—Targeting correctly means: <ul> <li>Enabling seamless messaging between all the devices the shopper uses, </li> <li>Applying advanced science behind the data, and </li> <li>Adopting an agile approach to targeting through user interface (UI), e-mail, mobile app and propensity targeting.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h5>The Near and the Far of Shopper Proximity</h5> <p>The customers taking the e-commerce path are usually the retailer’s primary shoppers and trust their favorite merchant to take the e-commerce plunge with them. Planning the drive to eProximity now is only a good investment in any grocery retailer’s future!</p>
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