It’s obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the groceries/retail delivery and pickup business. Less obvious is whether and how the trend will change post-pandemic, and what is the role of emerging players like Instacart now that more traditional retailers have entered the space.
Like many brand-conscious leaders, the question these brands usually have is how do I get a fast, cost-effective, and most importantly, unbiased valid answer. This problem made it a perfect question for our AI-enabled solution.
Beehive AI’s Qualitative Intelligence platform engaged 4,400 consumers and analyzed ~10,000 free-form consumer expressions in real-time and combined it with our proprietary index of consumer motivations, barriers, and perceptions. This allowed multiple segments of consumers to express themselves freely and quickly allowed us to really understand “what did they mean by that?”
This analysis produced a wealth of consumer insights and a robust segmentation scheme and surfaced a few things all retailers might want to pay attention to.
Instacart customers indicate they may have a lot to lose in a post-pandemic world
Instacart users are 1.6X more likely than Walmart’s to claim they will use the service less after the pandemic is over.
“Initially chose Grocery Delivery because of Covid. Lately use Pickup Service most often.”
I’m close to the market and feel it’s a good thing to get out and shop however with Covid and especially when big holidays are coming, I appreciate the ability to do home delivery!”
Instacart’s customers are less happy when it comes to pricing
They are over 250% more likely than Walmart's and Kroger's customers to want lower pricing, but not significantly different when it comes to faster delivery.
“I haven’t had any issues with them yet. I just wish their prices weren’t higher than store prices”
“Stop charging such high service fees and stop changing the prices of the food so we end up paying more for the food”
“more transparency about what the additional fees will be prior to the check-out process”
Customers give Kroger & Walmart higher marks overall than Instacart
Both Kroger & Walmart have a significantly higher NPS when it comes to grocery delivery and pickup service. In fact, Kroger’s NPS is 5.8X better than Instacart's.
Proximity (close to home) plays a big role
In deciding which grocery delivery/pickup to use, proximity is a big factor. That may bode well for the big retailers with a widespread physical presence.
“The physical store is located close to my home so I am familiar with it and its products, and their website is easy to navigate”
“Fresh and local; Support local eco-system; Best quality organic; Also don't like support whole foods/amazon”
Have other interesting questions? Want to learn more? Contact us at info@beehive.ai
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