Last modified: 2017-05-10
Abstract
Buying food online is no longer a phenomenon, since current studies in 2016 shows that in Germany approx. 30 % of potential buyers have already bought food online. Together with the latest activities of online-giant Amazon (e.g. Amazon Fresh or Amazon go), the sector of online food retail seems to be an attractive research field.
The principal objectices of the research refers to sustainable business models, planning of logistic structures and change in buyer behaviour. Purpose of the study was to analyze buyer behaviour in the field of online food retail based on a process design, derived from principles of Quality Management.
A convenience sample of 822 valid data records has been collected November/December 2016 with a sophisticated online-survey tool. The data set contain answers of 256 people who already bought food online.
Selected results in short form (more to come):
- Buying rate of previous studies was confirmed (31.1 %).
- Clear preference for smartphone as order device (48 %).
- Only 26 % are willing to pay more for an electric last mile delivery.
- Surprisingly high satisfaction of online buyers (89 %).
- Packaging was clearly identified as a negative impact factor.
- Buyer expect next day delivery (19.2 h).
- Average turnover is relatively low with a mean of 44 Euro.
The study strongly underlines the potential of online food retail as well as potential risks, such as low profit margins or packaging problems.