The joy of internet shopping is a relatively recent addition to my life.
I think it coincided with getting married a little over a year ago. Since then I've noticed a marked increase in the number of packages arriving at the door, delivered by some smug looking courier requesting my signature.
Either that or I get home in the evening to find a card telling me the postman "was unable to deliver" a package and I end up having to drive five miles to the nearest Post Office to collect it. So much for convenience!
Fortunately we've not yet got into on-line grocery shopping. I say "fortunately" because, perversely, I actually quite enjoy my weekly trip to the supermarket. If nothing else, it counts as exercise!
But, it seems, it's only a matter of time before even that is done from the comfort of our front room...
New research by the IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution) predicts that online grocery shopping is going to double in the next five years to a whopping £7.2bn.
Apparently 61% of the population shop online, but only 13% use the internet for groceries. That is set to increase dramatically - the more so if retailer delivery charges are dropped.
According to IGD chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch "the future of grocery shopping is multi-channel", with people using various outlets, including convenience stores, hypermarkets and the internet.
This, of course, creates a major opportunity - especially for farmers who are involved in, or planning on getting involved in, direct marketing of their produce to consumers.
There are already some fantastic examples in the farming industry of businesses that use the internet to sell their wares. The organic sector has been particularly good at this, as have some farmhouse cheesemakers.
Clearly online grocery shopping is not just for the big supermarkets. Farmers who are looking to grow their retailing activities can also benefit from the online trend.
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I'm not sure if online grocery shopping is something that will catch on in the broader sense of the word but I can say that I've had great success buying targeted gourmet foods and wines online, such as pre-packaged steaks, etc. Most comparison search engines have sections devoted to these kinds of foods from top retailers.
Interesting, never thought of it like that
Can say that i've had a lot of success with shopping online. I've found it to become a lot simpler especially with sites like U Shop (http://www.ubiqueapps.com/ushop) which do a lot of the work for you!