Food and grocery businesses should follow the example of Amazon and Google to succeed amid unprecedented disruption in the industry, IGD has advised.
In a speech at the Checkout Conference in Dublin, the research organisation’s chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch outlined how companies can make the most of ongoing developments, ranging from bitcoin, blockchain, robotics and artificial intelligence to climate change, sugar taxes and social and political change.
As well as developing a fast-moving and adaptable business culture, she advised food businesses to use artificial intelligence to their advantage and to make sure they continue doing the basics well.
“The food and grocery industry is continually grappling with wave after wave of disruption, ranging from new technologies, developed at lightning speed, to wider social and political developments happening across the globe,” said Denney-Finch.
“Indeed, it could be said that the last ten years will be judged as a period of relatively stability, compared with what the future holds.”
The retail consultant said that while this disruption presents big challenges for food and grocery companies, it also gives them opportunities to thrive if they can build upon three key skills.
One of these is the need to stay agile and emulate the “adaptable business culture” of the likes of Amazon and Google.
“They generate a mountain of ideas and then they experiment, all while keeping a fixed vision of where they want to get to,” she said.
“That’s how they evolve so quickly – they adapt or stop the failures and scale up the successes, so they’ve found a way to retain the speed of a business start-up.”
Key to achieving this is investing in people and empowering them to make frontline decisions, Denney-Finch added, advising companies to set micro-goals as they evolve, to use real-time data, and to keep refining their forecasting.
Another priority for businesses should be to harness artificial intelligence, which Denney-Finch described as the technological advancement that will drive the biggest changes in the industry.
“It’s evolving even faster than the internet and mobile technology did twenty years ago,” she said.
“Each week there are new examples of devices getting smarter, linking up, creating and sharing data, communicating through voice and delivering new services.”
The evolution of these digital technologies will allow grocery shopping to be divided into two components, Denney-Finch believes.
Everyday commodities like bread and milk will be increasingly be ordered automatically to the home, workplace or a convenient click-and-collect point, while tomorrow’s stores focus on fresh food, food to go and opportunities for consumers to taste, learn and discover new products.
“Stores will have more individual character, with layouts built around showcasing products and helping people to build their meals quickly with healthy lunch zones and breakfast bars,” she said.
Finally, Denney-Finch stressed the importance of continuing to do the basics well, highlighting the need for “excellent everyday management” of products, “excellent customer service” and putting the customer first.
“The most successful consumer goods companies in the world have reached their position through their ability to translate consumer insights into a steady stream of product and service improvements,” she added.
