Op-Ed: Swisslog
Five trends shaping E-grocery fulfillment in 2022
This will be the year will mark the year when virtually every major grocer finalizes their e-grocery strategy, and many will move into the execution phase using MFC automation The year 2021 answered some important questions about e-grocery fulfillment and how grocers can most effectively fulfill online orders through micro fulfillment centres (MFCs) and e-grocery fulfillment centres (EFCs). David Dronfield, General Manager, Swisslog Middle East, highlights some of the major trends emerging across material handling in 2022 in this special OpEd for Global Supply Chain.
T
he majority of the grocery market used 2021 to gain a better understanding of the complexities of e-grocery fulfillment and began to implement the organizational changes required to support an MFC strategy in the future. As a result, 2022 will mark the year when virtually every major grocer finalizes their e-grocery strategy, and many will move into the execution phase using MFC automation.” The five trends that grocers should prepare for as they begin to execute on their strategies, based on our work with
50 APRIL 2022
industry leaders who have successful MFCs and EFCs operating today.
1
E-grocery orders get smaller and more frequent
The big question coming into 2021 was how much the ‘return-to-normal’ would affect demand for e-grocery services. Would demand drop steeply from the highs experienced during the early days of the pandemic or would the convenience and time savings offered by on-line grocery shopping convert first-
time users into regular customers? That question was answered definitively in 2021. Despite online grocery’s share of total sales being up and down on a month-to-month basis, the overall trend was one of growth. According to a report from strategic advisory firm ‘Brick Meets Clicks’, the share of the U.S. grocery market represented by e-grocery pickup and delivery grew to 10% of total sales in 2021, up 2 points from 2020. While the firm saw relative consistency in order frequency through 2021, we expect this to change in 2022.
