How a national grocery chain watched curbside pickup double in eight weeks
A national grocery chain needed to know whether eCommerce was here to stay, in-store, online and curbside. Eight weeks of continuous in-app intercepts, on its own app and its competitors’, found curbside pickup up 14 points to 28% while 76% of shoppers still found most of their items online with the chain.
- Client
- A national grocery chain
- About the client
- One national grocery chain whose retail world had changed so much, and in such a short period of time, that it needed to know whether eCommerce was here to stay.
- Solution
- App + Web omnichannel panel, Surveys On The Go®
- Challenge
- Get deep insights into shopping behavior — in-store, online, and curbside delivery — plus competitive data from buyers at competitors’ locations.
- Method
- Eight weeks of continuous Point of Emotion® insights, triggered to qualifying panelists on the client’s grocery app and on their competitors’ apps.
- Result
- Curbside pickup rose 14 points to 28% as shoppers doubled their blend of in-store and online shopping, and 76% still found most of their items online with this chain.
Is eCommerce here to stay?
One national grocery chain needed to answer that question. Their retail world had changed so much…and in such a short period of time. So, what did the future of shopping look like for this brand, and their loyal followers?
To find out, our grocery client needed deep insights into shopping behavior: in-store, online, and curbside delivery. Only then could they create a perfect omnichannel experience. The data absolutely had to be accurate. Marketing, sales and production are all riding on their results.
Hang on, there’s more. They also needed competitive data. Because, if you’re trying to understand a major market shift, then you also need to talk with buyers at competitor’s locations. So, let’s look at how they did it.
It was time to talk to real buyers, in real time.
So, our grocery chain chose the only research provider to combine data + opinions. With an omnichannel panel, they’d be able to compare in-store, online and curbside data using App + Web insights. Good news: there’s an app for that.
We used Surveys On The Go® (SOTG).
As the nation’s largest, highest-rated consumer panel, SOTG locates consumers in real-time. Here, the app looked for qualifying panelists on our client’s app—and their competitors’ apps. As they went online, SOTG triggered a survey straight to their phones.
And, because it’s an app, the client got:
eCommerce behavior
SOTG confirmed their use of a grocery app on their phone.
Timely insights
The app captured 8 weeks of continuous Point of Emotion® insights.
Accurate data
Panelists were spoken to in real time, and confirmed via the SOTG app.
Over 8 weeks, we closely observed eCommerce behaviors.
Shoppers became quite comfortable with curbside delivery—doubling their blend of in-store and online shopping.
- 64% chose to shop in-store: a 14-point decrease.
- 28% chose curbside pickup: a 14-point increase.
- 22% chose the website to order: a 7-point increase.
While people could find more items online, they struggled to assess the quality and freshness of certain products.
This may have led to more in-store shopping.
- 66% found it hard to assess freshness; a 6-point increase.
- 55% struggled to find items in stock: a 4-point decrease.
- 28% found it hard to assess product size: a 7-point increase.
Shoppers are loyal to this grocery chain.
As time went on, we watched as even more buyers decided to go in-store to our client’s locations for missing items, rather than visit a competitor online.
- 76% were able to find most of their items online with this chain.
- 30% found missing items with another retailer online: a 14-point decrease.
- 19% went in-store to this grocery chain for missing items: an 8-point increase.
About the client
One national grocery chain, whose retail world had changed so much and in such a short period of time that it needed to know whether eCommerce was here to stay — in-store, online and curbside, and at its competitors’ locations too.
About MFour
MFour solves the issues of data fraud and commoditization in research using validated consumer data and a groundbreaking end-to-end insights platform. Utilizing the 4.5 star rated iOS & Android Surveys On The Go® app, MFour collects validated consumer behaviors + surveys to gain deep insights into consumer journeys.
Watch a channel shift happen instead of hearing about it later.
Eight weeks of continuous Point of Emotion® insights, triggered on your app and your competitors’, is how this chain saw curbside pickup double while it was happening.
Talk to an insights strategist