The pandemic has brought sweeping changes to the UK supermarket industry, not least in terms of stock-outs, public health concerns and government requirements preventing consumers from shopping in-store. Now, supermarkets are dealing with another adversary that could test their resilience: inflation. according to arlatest articles These rapid changes could call into question the supermarket’s economic viability, according to the International British Times.
Clumsy efforts by UK supermarkets to grow
To keep pace with rapidly evolving consumer demands, grocers have accelerated their efforts to build online and offline channels at an unprecedented pace.However, the downside of this hasty effort can be seen from recent Report Tesco has experienced outages on both its website and grocery app, as hundreds of customers across the UK expressed their frustration at being unable to complete their online grocery orders.
Technical issues, while common, do not guarantee customer loyalty. Instead, they look for more reliable options. There are many disruptors in the current landscape ready to take frustrated customers and give them the shopping experience of their lives.
Technology aside, grocery stores must emulate what competitors do right, such as having large inventories, fast deliveries, engaging mobile experiences and superior customer service. Many supermarkets are working to enhance the face-to-face customer experience with contactless payments and faster checkouts to lure customers in and out of stores.
fight inflation
With food prices soaring and customers looking for great value for their money, grocers must find ways to meet this pressing need. Duncan Brewer, a partner at EY-Parthenon, an EY strategy consultancy, advises grocery stores to think twice before passing high food prices on to customers. If consumers are negatively affected, they will only turn to one of their competitors. He went on to say that raising prices should be seen as a last resort and they have to refocus on reducing costs as a good, major step.
