How to Start Your Own Online Grocery Store Business

Introduction

Online grocery shopping has received a greater response in recent days. The convenience is highly appreciated by buyers and so there is a greater growth in developing grocery ecommerce platforms. Every day when we open any social media platform we can find an advertisement of any new launch of online grocery software. More interesting facts and stats can prove the growth of online grocery business.

Statistical report about online grocery platforms.

• Walmart is the leading and popular grocery ecommerce platform.
• Most e-commerce warehouses are expected to be fully automated by 2027.
• 74% of Americans have reported that they started online grocery shopping only during the pandemic period 2020.
• Food and beverages sales will incredibly increase by 38% in 2020.
• The global grocery retail market is expected to grow 27% by 2025.
• 23% of apps downloaded from play store are grocery ecommerce app

Key factors to consider while building an online grocery platform.

All the above-mentioned stats are quite promising, but still to make your grocery store software a successful one you need to follow certain aspects strictly. This will support you to find your plan in the ecommerce market.

Identify a target location/audience

Focusing on your target location and audience is the key and crucial aspect that every store owner needs to find. Without proper analysis of this criteria you will not succeed and your grocery ecommerce platform will not get proper reach. Customer segmentation is very important and you need to have a separate strategy to pitch your grocery software on the right time to the right people in the right place.

Register your Business

If you are serious about your business, then it is mandatory to register your business. If you plan as an individual, then you should start with a sole proprietorship. Also, get in touch with any reputed tax consultant and know the taxation procedures and learn how to file your sales-oriented papers at the time of the audit.

Setup inventory management

Proper inventory management is the key to success for any online grocery store. There are two options to maintain stock. First, you can have a separate warehouse and can maintain all stock there and can deliver it to your customers directly from your warehouse. Another option is you can give this responsibility to vendors as they can have their own stock warehouse and your platform will just get orders for vendors and vendors will deliver the stock to customers. If you are a startup, then it is advisable not to take stock maintenance under your hand.

Plan your delivery methods

The reputation of any online grocery platform depends on how well the delivery process is carried out. On-time delivery is what every customer expects. Many grocery ecommerce platforms offer same-day delivery and some also offer delivery within 2 hours. So for your grocery platform, you need to check with several shipping agencies and should fix the one that has a good reputation in the delivery business. Give a proper commitment to your customers and make sure that the order reaches the customer’s place within the assured delivery timing.

Develop a website and app for your online grocery business

So far we have checked with all prerequisites that are essential to start your grocery store. Now we are in the main part that is developing a perfect user-friendly website and mobile app. Initially, you can design a website alone. Later, after your business keeps moving forward you can think about developing an app. Before developing a grocery website you need to check with your competitors and have a clear idea about the features they have included in the website. Make sure your website will compete well with your competitors.

Must have grocery ecommerce platform features

There are many essential features that are mandatory in your grocery platform. Without these features you may not easily attract your target audience to your grocery website. Let us have a short look at those distinctive features.

• User-friendly UI & UX to make users stay on your site.
• Customization and scalability for future business growth
• Device compatible design for getting the attention of mobile users
• Easy third-party API integration with your grocery platform
• Geo location mapping to find nearby grocery stores.
• Real-time tracking to track the order status.
• Reports and analytics to understand the performance of the grocery platform.
• Reviews and ratings for customers to share their feedback about the platform service.

Integrate payment gateway

Once you set your online grocery store software with all features the next important aspect is integrating payment gateways with the platform. Customers will be using these gateways to pay online and get products. It is very important to have only familiar payment gateways to be integrated. Because customers will hesitate to pay and buy if the payment gateways are unfamiliar to them.

Starting a Small Business in the Philippines

Revenue Model for Online Grocery Business

We all build grocery ecommerce platforms, mainly to earn money. To earn well you need to optimize the revenue channels in your platform. Have a flexible commission plan for vendors. For daily moving products like milk you can set a subscription plan and customers can subscribe to them on a monthly basis and will get those products on a regular basis. You can allow advertisements and banners in your grocery platform that will provide additional income. Include affiliate modules and let your customers earn through your platform by referring customers.

Have an innovative marketing strategy

A grocery ecommerce platform can bring good business only if it is visible to all target audiences. To increase the brand visibility you need to work on marketing and promotional activity. Without proper marketing strategy you may fail to standalone in the ecommerce industry. You can make use of SEO marketing to get easy ranking. Also you cannot ignore social media platforms as most of your audiences are available there. Then utilize email marketing and content marketing also to promote your brand. Try to reach as much as possible to make your brand visible to all.

Focus on customer acquisition and customer retention

By utilizing all the above mentioned marketing tools you can easily get visitors to your platform and can easily increase your grocery website traffic. But that is not the end. You need to make your visitors into customers. For that you need to have more customer-centric features that will delight customers and make them refer your platform to others too. Make sure you have attractive offers and discounts that are better than your competitors. Have customer loyalty programs and make them buy again and again from your platform.

Conclusion

Always follow all the above mentioned procedures before you start building your online grocery store software. Give more attention to all aspects as only through this grocery platform you are going to earn. Always be more determined in running a successful platform. Initially things may not go as we plan. We should not lose our hope, we should keep trying again and again without giving up. At one point your business will elevate and you can start earning more than you have expected. Get in touch with all advanced technologies and implement them in your grocery ecommerce platform to make it more live and active.