With busy lives and hectic schedules, online shopping has become a life savior for a majority of consumers. Increased online shopping by tech-savvy consumers has led to an exponential rise in many online stores. As a matter of fact, brick and mortar stores have also entered the online eCommerce industry to stay in business. Grocery is one of such sectors that have made a prominent drift from traditional to the virtual world.
Resonating with the evolving technology, online grocery stores provide customers with an enhanced experience over a traditional offline store. Online stores have overpowered traditional grocery stores by providing customers with the following benefits:
- Convenience to choose products
- The comfort of shopping from home
- Choose desired delivery timings
- Freedom from waiting in long queues and rush
The increasing customer base is definitely a promising opportunity for entrepreneurs and business owners to launch an online grocery store. There already are some prominent names like Instacart, UberRUSH, and BigBasket that are generating huge revenues from their online grocery stores. These big market players are working on a common business model of customer ordering groceries online and the store delivering grocery with robust delivery networks. Revenues are generated through commissions, service, subscription charges etc.
Before getting into the critical features that an online grocery store should have, let’s discuss how to get started with opening an online store. In general, there are three ways one can start an online grocery store.
The first method is to build an online store from scratch. In case if the business owner is well versed with the development of an eCommerce store, they can code it from scratch using modern programming languages and framework. This is the least preferred method as it takes a lot of resources and time. Moreover, defining the scope of the business is difficult and thus, making a scalable website also becomes tough.
The second method is to use an existing platform or software like Magento, Wix, BigCommerce etc. to build an online grocery store. Not only these platforms simplify things but boost revenues. The existing third-party sites already have pre-built templates and other integrations like payment gateways which can be easily added.B ut the major problem with this method is that in most of the cases, there are extra charges for hostings, domain, SSL certificates etc. These platforms might ask for additional charges on transactions on each sale.
A third and most reliable method is using readymade eCommerce platforms. Implementation of these platforms is quick and hassle-free and can be launched immediately at a fixed price. These readymade solutions often come with free trials and demo to see how the online store would look. The biggest relief is that the admins or user don’t have to be tech wizards to understand the functioning of the eCommerce platform.
So, going by the above-mentioned pros and cons of the different methods, a ready-made eCommerce platform comes across as the most viable and profitable option to start an online grocery store. The grocery store built with a readymade solution is affordable and scalable.
Growler is one such dedicated solution to launch a readymade online grocery store. It is a turnkey solution to help business owners to turn their traditional grocery store into an online grocery store for the people who don’t have time to shop at a brick and mortar store. Stores or online grocery portals built on Growler are user-friendly, easy to navigate and highly secure.
Although Growcer is schemed and planned according to the latest market trends, it comes with an option for its owner to get it customized according to their preference. As design, looks and functionality matter a lot, the business owner can get the whole store customized.
Each and every store built with grower is designed to provide users with the best shopping experience. Grower’s cart sharing functionality makes it way better than other grocery store platforms. This innovative feature allows customers to share their carts with family, friends, etc. The feature not only improves the average order size but also reduces cart abandonment rate.
Customers get a high level of convenience as the online grocery stores built on Growler allow customers to choose the time and place of delivery. Growler’s primary focus is to make the whole process of shipping and management hassle free. The system is equipped with a review and rating system for customers to take more smart decisions.
A brief list of Grower’s features has been listed below:
- Wishlist- Wishlist allows customers to add and save products in the cart and buy them anytime later.
- Multiple Payment Options– Customers get full convenience by using any payment option, from cash on delivery to PayPal to bank transfers.
- Referrals and Rewards- Grower empowers online grocery store owners to build loyal connections with customers through coupons, vouchers and deals depending on their purchasing frequency. You can also reward them with discount coupons or cashback if they refer the store to their friends and family.
- Marketing Features– Marketing is an integral part of every business as it helps in increasing your store’s online presence. Moreover, it also aids in reaching out to the target audience.
- Social Media Integration- To ensure proper use of social media, Growcer provides social profile login/signup, social plugins etc.
- Affiliates- To take the business to newer audiences, Grower is equipped with an affiliate module that allows you to connect with right marketers who can promote your business.
- Display Ads- These are an additional source of revenue for the online grocery store.
- Analytics- An analytical feature in e-commerce store holds prime importance as it helps in figuring out the right source of traffic, what customers are actually looking on the website. Analytics also help you know the overall performance of store in terms of total sales and total customers.
- Mobile Applications – Although Growler is responsive across different screens, it also comes in the form of iOs and Android Apps to provide customers more enhanced and “on the go” shopping experience.
Now, it’s time to see how online grocery businesses make money grow. The major revenue generation sources are:
- Commissions- This is the most widely adopted method of generating revenues. Through this model, the owner earns a commission on every sale.
- Subscription – This revenue model ensures a fixed income to owner irrespective of how vendors are performing and how sales are going.
To be more assured of these features, Growler provides a live demo for the front end, admin end, and buyer side to demonstrate its user-friendly design and advanced functionality.
Growler, a quality product by FATbit technologies is certainly one of the best choices as it has been presented with the Great User Experience Award for its intuitive interface and user navigation. Be it an entrepreneur or traditional grocery business owner, launching an online grocery store in the shortest time and affordable costs is possible with Grower.
The online grocery industry is attained a strong foothold in the online business industry. Moreover, there is a lot to learn from early adopters such as Instacart, BigBasket etc. as for how to thrive and prosper in this field. With a platform like Growler, one can definitely make their presence and contribute their part in this growing industry.
Also read: How to Choose Online Food Ordering System?- Market Research, Stats & Solutions
box while packing products at home office– stock image
