2.www.peapod.com
2.1 Introduction-
Peapod is wholly owned subsidiary of international food provider Royal Ahold, and works in partnership with Ahold USA supermarket companies Stop & Shop, Giant Food Stores (Giant-Carlisle) and Giant Food (Giant-Landover). Founded in 1989 by Brothers Andrew and Thomas Parkinson, Peapod has grown from a small, family-run shopping and delivery service in Illinois to America's leading Internet grocer, delivering more than 23 million orders across 24 U.S. markets.
As in other pure-play online and clicks-and-bricks alliances, what Peapod brings to the partnership is e-commerce and home shopping expertise, web-based software and ordering systems, web marketing and additional information technology (IT) skills. Ahold’s contributions lie in its considerable buying power, real estate, strong store brand recognition, extensive customer base and category management expertise
Products
Peapod features over 8,000 products in a range of categories: produce; meat and seafood; deli items; prepared foods; natural and organic foods; Kosher foods; office and school supplies; seasonal items; video products; pet items; health and beauty aids; wine, beer and spirits (in specific markets); and private labels from Stop & Shop and Giant.

Markets Served * Illinois - Greater Chicago land * Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine, Madison * Indiana - Portions of Lake County in Northwest Indiana * Maryland * District of Columbia * Virginia – Northern part of state (most communities in Fairfax, Manassas and Loudoun Counties) * Massachusetts - Eastern part of state (most communities in Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester Counties) and select towns in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts * Connecticut - Statewide (except Litchfield and Windham Counties) * Rhode Island - Statewide (except Washington County) * New Hampshire - Portions of Rockingham County * New York - New York City (mainly zip codes in Manhattan and the other NYC boroughs), suburban NYC (most communities in Long Island, Rockland and Westchester Counties and additional communities in Dutchess and Putnam Counties) * Pennsylvania - Philadelphia region
2.2 Need-
Various issues arise when we shop daily.
1. Parking issues,
2.Dealing with the crowds,
3.Dodging shopping carts,
4.Waiting in long lines at checkout. Shopping online is a much more straight-forward matter. Prices are clearly marked, and if you have a shopping list you can search for specific items, add them to your cart, and check out immediately, as opposed to walking through aisles, going back through the store to pick up something you forgot, or falling for those impulse buys that somehow always make their way into your cart. Plus, if you're on a budget or just money conscious, you can see your subtotal increase with every single item you add to your cart. If you break your budget, you can remove something from your cart to get you under budget before you're standing at the checkout counter. As you tick off your shopping list, you get instant feedback on how much you'll spend, which unlike shopping in a store, can help you get your grocery costs under control.
2.3 Competition-
The market is heating up. Peapod ranks No. 55 in the top 500 Internet retail properties for 2013. But the company faces big competition. Amazon is the Internet's No. 1 retailer, and Walmart isn't far behind at No. 4. Both have enormous resources to tackle the challenges of storing produce and delivering them in a timely manner. In fact, Walmart is already the top provider of food -- it just hasn't cracked the online sales yet.
2.4 Revenue-
Based on 2011 results, Peapod was ranked 52nd on Internet Retailer's Top 500 e Commerce Companies, with reported revenue of $479 million and 6% growth.
Peapod.com, world's leading online grocery delivery company, executed bold strategies in 2012, resulting in a record-setting $500 million in revenues. Even better, Peapod has reported growing mobile orders by 50%, to achieve 30% of total revenue, or $150 million in mobile revenue.
Peapod, which had an annual revenue of about $60 million when Ahold acquired it, increased revenue to about $550 million in 2013.

2.5 Traffic workings-
Alexa shows the site is somewhat popular. In the United States the website has a ranking of 4,530 and globally over 25,000. The site is most popular in the cities of Boston and Baltimore. The site is used primarily by women over 30 and most often accessed at school rather than work or home. Google Page Rank lists the site as 6/10 which is a fairly high ranking.
Based on Alexa.com findings, peapod.com has a global traffic rank of 18,608 and belongs to the top 100,000 most popular websites in the world. Peapod.com also reaches roughly 325,579 unique users each month and has 1,241 backlinks according to Alexa. The estimated monthly ad revenue is $ 10,894.34.
2.6 Strategy-
2.6.1 Customer acquisition and retention strategy-
The growth in revenue in 2011 onwards was driven in part by a 12-week campaign and combined advertising with mobile technology and mass transit. Working with a number of national consumer brands, Peapod installed “grocery aisles” using billboards at train stations in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, New Jersey and Connecticut.
On the East Coast, the billboards featured coffee, condiments, soft drinks, snacks, cereal and other common grocery products. As commuters waited for their trains, mobile users could scan a QR code on the billboard to download Peapod’s free shopping app. They then used the app to scan product barcodes to purchase items, and scheduled delivery.

2.6.2 Mobile strategy-
To order, customers first use their iPhone, iPad or Android phone to scan a QR code and download a free app from the billboards Peapod has installed on train platforms. Customers then shop by scanning barcodes of products shown on the billboard display. In Chicago, these virtual stores feature what Peapod dubs “Chicago’s Best” prepared foods, drawn from 30 of the city’s favorite restaurants and hometown brands. The list includes LEYE brands like Wildfire and Big Bowl plus items from Eli’s Cheesecake, Chicago Butter Cookies, Intelligentsia Coffee and Goose Island beer. Customers can also access the rest of Peapod’s 11,000-item assortment with the app. Items are delivered the next day.
According to Peapod, commuters who used the app typically spent at least $10 more than those who placed orders on their computer. The biggest orders came from those with Apple devices. On its Facebook page, Peapod noted that more than 80% of mobile visits come from Apple devices, with 40% from iPads alone.
In an effort to improve convenience, Peapod provides a text-message service that will alert customers when their delivery driver is due to arrive within 10 minutes, instead of making customers hang around their homes for a typical one- or two-hour delivery window.
2.6.3 Security strategy-

Peapod stores its customer information in a secure storage area. All of its internet activities are secured through Verisign using SSL protocols. Customers can opt out of emails and third party notifications. All payments made through the internet are also secured through Verisign. Customers are also given a password to access their accounts. Customers can delete or update their account information at any time. Google's Safe Browsing Tools shows peapod is a safe site for consumers to access. Peapod is currently safely hosted over four networks
2.6.4 Supply chain strategy-
CUSTOMERS ORDER ONLINE
With more than 8,000 products for shoppers to choose from, Peapod boasts farm fresh produce; a wide selection of grocery basics; restaurant -grade meats and seafood; an array of prepared foods and party trays; deli meats and cheeses (sliced to order); Kosher, organic and specialty foods; carb-conscious items; a vast selection of produce; a variety of beer, wine and beverages (in select markets); pet supplies; videos; office and school supplies and private label products from Stop & Shop and Giant.
Peapod enhances and organizes the shopping experience by organizing products and purchase history to ease the shopping experience with such features as:
Weekly Specials - the "specials" tab lists hundreds of weekly specials; red tag symbols mark specials all through the site
New Items - a "new arrivals" icon highlights new products and newly-stocked
Express Shop - a notepad feature lets shoppers jot down lists; product matches display at once
Shopping Lists - the "my lists" tab lets consumers create new shopping lists; pull up previous orders; or save personalized lists (like a Thanksgiving list)
Sort Features - pull-down tabs sort products by price, nutritional content like sodium, fat, calories carbohydrates, cholesterol, or even best-seller status
Aisle Browsing - the "browse aisle" tab encourages shopping in the traditional grocery store aisle format
Item Search - items/brand names entered in the search field locate specific products
Recipes & More - recipes from leading brands and "Seasonal Solutions" (recipes, entertaining ideas, tips) from Kraft Foods
Another signature in the Peapod experience is the tailored product offerings. In Chicago, for example, perishables are sourced locally from South Water Market, one of the largest produce markets in the country. And the grocer's "Chicago's Best" lineup offers Windy City residents a top selection of hometown foods, from Portillo's roast beef and gravy to Charlie Trotter's citrus smoked salmon.

PEAPOD SHOPS
Peapod operates under a centralized distribution model with two formats: warehouses and warerooms. Both provide next-day delivery, but warerooms, which are dedicated areas attached to Ahold U.S.A. stores, are used as business in developing new markets and leveraging the stores infrastructures., Centralized distribution allows Peapod to design a shopping space that supports efficiency and accuracy in order fulfillment. Peapod also retains more control over inventory and logistics under this model.
Working in one of the company's two state -of-the-art freestanding warehouses or in any of eight smaller warerooms (adjacent to supermarket partners Stop & Shop and Giant Food), Peapod personal shoppers are trained to prepare quality meats and seafood and to improve the ritual of hand-picking, squeezing and smelling perishables. Customers can even provide directives for some picks, by selecting yellow or green bananas and thin or thick-sliced deli meats during their shop. Once assembled, customer orders are carefully packed in bags and special temperature-controlled, crush-proof containers. The company's Stay Fresh delivery system exceeds food safety standards and maintains products at their optimum temperature and freshness, from the distribution center all the way to a customer's front door.

Peapod began its service by having personal shoppers go to grocery stores and fill orders made online by picking items right off the shelves. Orders were then delivered by mini-vans to customers. Peapod soon realized the high cost and inefficiency of picking orders in this fashion, and decided to move towards a centralized distribution model in every market in which it offers online shopping and delivery services
This centralized model employs formats for both large and smaller markets: freestanding warehouse facilities and smaller fast-pick fulfillment centers, depending on the size of its customer base. Through improved supply chain processes, Ahold and Peapod are converting former mezzanine storage areas at Ahold’s US stores into efficient “fast pick” fulfillment centers for Peapod.

PEAPOD DELIVERS
From the company's freestanding warehouses and warerooms, Peapod trucks fan out each day to make deliveries into neighborhoods around the country. For a fee as low as $6.95, most customers can place orders for delivery as soon as next-day (within a two-hour window) or even days or weeks in advance.
Peapod also offers unattended delivery. If you can’t be home for the delivery, choose this method and simply tell Peapod at which secure location you would like the groceries to be left, and Peapod will pack the groceries in refrigerated boxes to keep your items fresh. The next time you order, leave the refrigerated boxes out for your driver. If you don’t return the boxes, you will be charged $5 per box and $1 per ice pack. Peapod’s method of unattended delivery is fairly low cost and the benefits gained by customer goodwill due to the added convenience may outweigh the cost.

2.6.5 Payment strategy-
Payment can be done for the Peapod grocery order using a credit card, a Visa or MasterCard debit card or Peapod gift cards. The company prefers payment through their PDC system.
One may also use Peapod’s electronic payment method called “Peapod Direct Check,” which deducts the charge directly from your checking account. Peapod Direct Check is a free hassle-free payment option that will help save time and MONEy.. It's just like paying by check. Peapod has offered Peapod Direct Check for over 8 years under the name PEP (Peapod Electronic Payment), but now it's even easier because one can sign up online.

By using Peapod Direct Check, on can pay for the Peapod order by authorizing a secure transfer from one’s checking account for the exact amount of the order. After one has received the groceries, the authorized debit request to one’s bank is submitted ,which then sends the payment to Peapod.

2.7 Technology used-
The online grocery store, Peapod, has taken their main value proposition to a new level. Peapod began as an online grocery service designed to help out people who weren’t able to make it to the supermarket on a regular basis. Now Peapod is taking their program to the next level. Rather than requiring shoppers to go to Peapod.com, they are bringing the store to them in the form of virtual shopping.
Peapod has set up virtual stores in several Chicago El stations, allowing people to scan and shop while they wait for their trains. Shoppers need to have the Peapod app on their phones, as well as an account to shop, two hurdles that aren’t terribly difficult to overcome. This virtual shopping strategy is brilliant for several reasons. First, it reaffirms one of Peapod’s biggest selling points: convenience. Second, it creates a unique m-commerce experience, and finally, it encourages impulse shopping.
They are also reinforcing app use.. Virtual shopping reminds people that their app is ready and waiting for them to use at their leisure. This approach will drive m-commerce sales, perhaps to the point in some markets where people will use the app more than the website.

Among the few areas where Peapod uses outside technology, it's working with Certona to improve the product recommendations it offers through its online NutriFilter system, which suggests products based on shoppers' preferences for particular food ingredients and levels of ingredients like sodium and corn sweeteners.
And to build stronger relations with grocery suppliers, it has developed with Ahold itemMaster.com, which grocery suppliers as well as other retailers can access to store and retrieve accurate and up-to-date descriptions and images of suppliers' products.
2.7 Key partners/ Vendors-
Supermarket Partners- * Peapod by Stop & Shop (Boston, Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey) * Peapod by Giant (Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland) * Ahold USA supermarket companies
Centralized Distribution-
Peapod serves customers with two freestanding, 75,000-square-foot warehouses in: * Chicago (Lake Zurich, Ill.) * Washington, DC (Gaithersburg, Md.)

Vendors- * Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises - 45 items from LEYE’s Wildfire concept alone, plus dozens more from some of its other high-profile restaurants including Big Bowl, Café Ba-Ba-Reeba, Mon Ami Gabi, Osteria Via Stato and Wao Bao are available at the peapod site. * Artizone * Wild Oats- More than 200 Wild Oats branded natural and organic products are available to Chicago area shoppers on the Peapod online grocery site. * Harvest Moon Farms

2.8 SWOT Analysis- Strengths | * Peapod has been a pioneer in E commerce. * Peapod has shown high growth in revenues since it was acquired by Ahold. * Monetary assistance is provided by the owner company and Peapod also banks in on the brand name of the owner company. * Good knowledge about the ins and outs of the domestic market of USA. * Peapod keeps competitive prices of the products. * Just in time inventory system. | | Weaknesses | * Investments in research and development * No pricing information to customers is provided. | | Opportunities | * Growth rates and profitability * Income level is at a constant increase * Alliances with grocers who want to go online. * Diversified product line. | | Threats | * Growing competition from online as well as traditional retail stores. * financial capacity * Price changes. * Online sales tax * Government regulations of e commerce. | |

Comparison between Peapod and Tesco

Peapod | Tesco | Business Credibility & Trustworthiness
Peapod was one of the first internet website companies and was voted the Inc. 500 as the 69th fastest growing private company in 1996. The company held an IPO through NASDAQ and was quite successful at the time. The company is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has been since 2007. There current rating is A+. The BBB indicates the company has a good response record to customer problems. The company has teamed up with nutritionists and schools to provide education on nutritious meals. | Tesco Competition is not BBB accredited and does not appear to have a BBB rating.In the US several branches of Tesco's American chain of Fresh and Easy supermarkets have a BBB rating although none of them are accredited.Tesco has its own Wine and Living Magazines which feature advice,tips,competition and quizzes.Tesco won the prestigious award Supermarket of the Year at the International Wine Challenge 2012.They also won the award for Green Retailer of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards 2012 and Tesco UK won the award for Best Charity Partnership in the retail and leisure industry at the Business Charity Awards.Tesco's branches in other countries have also won awards for specific environmental and community initiatives. The countries include China, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and South Korea. | Website Popularity & Google Ranking | Alexa has given Tesco a global ranking of 1437 with 12633 sites linking in.Tesco is also ranked in the following countries * UK 41 * Ireland 670 * South Korea 6602 * France 6853 * Spain 10,412 * China 12,670 * USA 24,229The company's popularity is increasing daily with the estimated global internet users who visit this site rising by 5% in the last 7 days.Googla has given Tesco a page ranking of 7 out of a possible 10. | Website Security & Safety | Although the google diagnostic test produced no information this site is secure.All financial information is encrypted using a https:// prefix and everyone who registers with this site is given their own personal password. The site is owned and operated by the Tesco group and anyone wanting to shop online must have a Tesco clubcardor Tesco e-clubcard. | Pricing & Packages
FreshDirect: * Minimum Purchase: $30 * Delivery Charge: $5.95 and up * Fuel Surcharge: NoNetGrocer: * Mininum Purchase: No * Delivery Charge: $9.99 and up * Fuel Surcharge: NoPeapod has more expensive delivery charges than some competitors, but offers more products. However, NetGrocer will deliver to any part of the United States, while the other companies listed are confined to several eastern coast areas. | Sample prices of some of the items they sell at Tesco * Fresh produce offers £1.00 * Half price pork loins unsmoked Wiltshire joint £12.48 * Tesco touuch microwave £39.96 * Tesco value kettle £5.69 * Tesco value steam iron £3.79 * Leather biker jacket £30.00 * Dog tooth pencil skirt £12.00They are continually offering discounted coupons on this site with codes you can quote to get money off. | Payment Methods Accepted
Peapod accepts Peapod gift cards for payment on deliveries. Peapod also accepts Peapod Direct Check (PDC) through your bank account. Other options are credit cards where unattended delivery is available. The company accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express and debit cards affiliated with these credit cards. | Tesco will accept a Tesco bank card,a direct debit set up with the customer's own bank or major credit/debit cards, Visa, Mastercard, Delta.Customers can also use e-vouchers obtained from the Tesco site and collect Air Miles when they pay their bill.They do not accept PayPal as a method of payment. | Returns, Refunds & Exchange Policy
The company's return policy is rather rigid on deliveries. If an order cannot be delivered, the company will charge a $50 restocking fee to the customer. This also applies to an order that is cancelled after the company has started to fill the order. Specialty items have an additional 15% restocking fee. Besides deliveries, the company will arrange for the return of any unused items that a customer is not happy with up to 30 days after delivery. Arrangements can be made by calling customer service or emailing the company directly. The drivers can also accept coupons on delivery which will be credited to the customer’s account. | Tesco has an excellent refund policy as has been proved by several customer reviews. If there is a problem with any order, especially food a full refund is given.If products fall below the high standard the customer expects from Tesco they will refund or exchange it within 28 days. They will also refund or exchange a product if the customer changes their mind within 28 days provided it is returned as sold with all the original packing tags, labels and accessories.Refunds for goods purchased under a promotional offer will be based on the terms of the promotional price. They also operate a Price Promise scheme where they will give the customer a voucher for the difference of up to £10 if their comparable grocery shopping is cheaper at Asda,Sainsburys or Morrisons. |

Online grocery business in India
Need
Groceries sell irrespective of the state of the economy. You can stop going to the cinema and restaurants, but there's no way you can live without toothpaste, soap and, well, vegetables. Caught in the city's fast pace, tedious commuting and long working hours, many consumers don't have the time to buy groceries or would like to avoid the chore.

Buyers are now quite comfortable ordering apparel, shoes, electronics, among others, online. With improving comfort with online payments, selling groceries online has become relatively easy. The spending on grocery and daily essentials is the largest and most consistent share of the wallet for any household. However, it is still out of the ambit of online shopping and, therefore, represents a huge opportunity
Competition
The competition in the online grocery market is very fierce, perhaps even more so than in the bricks and mortar retail world, where geography limits the number of players in a market.
The major competitor in online grocery shopping in India are bigbasket.com , reliancefrshdirect.com(which started its business just in this month) and many localized players like dilligrocery.com etc.
Amazon has also declared its plan to launch its online grocery store amazonfresh.com in India very soon.
Currently as per the USDA report there are 44 online food and grocery retail outlets are working in India. Websites like http://www.aaloo.in, http://www.eemli.com, http://www.fishvish.com, http://www.dilligrocery.com. http://www.tazastuff.com, and http://www.veggibazaar.com are among 44 which are selling both domestic and imported food items in the country.
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION/RETENTION STRATEGY
Online retailing in India has gained success only with a robust offline operation. With grocery retail, the offline component is more ingrained. E-grocers have set up systems to accept orders over the phone, which in itself can be an independent business model.

You will also have to break away from the online medium to advertise your e-grocery business. Buyers still relate groceries with local store and malls. So, not many consumers search for online grocery stores. You would have to educate prospective customers about the opportunity and benefits of ordering groceries online.

If you wish to become successful as an online grocer, you will also require a strong understanding of the retail supply chain-from procuring the goods and delivering it to customers on time. You will also need a robust offline local network that can fulfill the orders. For customer retention all you need is to impress customer with the first order. Delivery on time, good service and specific offers which they can’t get in local stores can be useful to retain the loyal customers.
REVENUE MODEL
This is a very city-specific business. Grocery business needs to be done city by city. In India online grocery business model is popular mostly in Mumbai, Banglore, Haydrabad and Delhi.
In India 4.32 bn USD is the total size of organized food and grocery market. The biggest player Bigbasket.com claims its annual turnover to be approximate INR 100 Cr.
We are expecting a opening year turnover to be approximate 25 crores. As online grocery business in growing at a rate of 25-30% we are expacting a growth rate of 75-80% in nxt 3 years .
IMPROVING MARGINS

Given the low operating margin in the segment and the challenge of offering better deals, it is important for online retailers to optimise their supply network.

The simplest way to increase the margin is to purchase in bulk by going higher up the supply chain and eliminating as many intermediaries between manufacturers and the retailer as you can. Staple grains, for instance, will be cheaper when procured directly from a mill rather than the local market. Going further up the chain, buying directly from farmers would mean even lower prices.

Going the private-label way is another strategy being used by many existing e-grocery stores. Staples such as rice, pulses and spices are procured from the market and processed in-house (or by their suppliers).

TRAFFIC
Mobile strategy:
With the increasing smart-phone users it is very convenient to attract and retain customers. So we are planning to launch mobile application for major platforms android , ios and windows phone. The mobile application will be provided with virtual shopping place as well as with the real time order tracking facility.
SOFTWARE:
Stock Manager Advance, available at CodeCanyon.net, is an app that helps you manage your stock with a built-in inventory system.

PAYMENT STRATEGY:
Along with the debit and credit card payment option CASH ON DELIVERY option will be provided in Indian context. Special Premium membership card option will be given to regular customers. Free home Delivery will be provided upon the order of above INR 750 and for regular customers.

Supply chain and technology of bigbasket.com
As already described it’s a very city specific business model as you can’t deliver grocery to other cities. We analyzed the supply chain model of bigbasket.com. They have a warehouse and hubs in each city of their operation. The goods in the warehouse go to the hubs and from there to the customers. Hubs are where their delivery vehicals are kept. They have split cities into zones and each zone has a hub. All orders go to the hubs from where thry are distributed. They have used technology to get the routing done automatically and GPS devices track the vehicals.
OPERATION STRATEGY:
There are two operating models for online grocery business. One is called just in time model in this as in starting you don’t know the exact volume for suppliers to supply in bulk and for you to stock in warehouse. So you consolidate orders for the day , go and buy the products and deliver.
Once when you reach a particular volume you move from just in time model to warehouse stocking model. In this they stock a certain number of days of sales, depanding upon the product and sales.
CHALLANGES
The grocery business has to be expanded city-wise, as rice or perishables cannot be shipped across cities. Here, the marketing needs to be local - what may appeal a grocery buyer in Bangalore may not appeal to one in Mumbai. Therefore, one has to establish links with large suppliers. Establishing a supply chain to deliver a wide range of products on time at competitive prices involves considerable operational complexity. Besides, grocery items are a low margin category, without much scope for large discounts,
Now, consumers can buy at attractive prices in hypermarkets; so, the company will need to clearly define its value proposition. Moving to an inventory holding model will require substantially higher working capital. Consumer preferences vary from city to city; so, the firm has to establish a significant network of regional suppliers. As the company scales up, logistics will be a challenge, as scheduling slot- based delivery is complex and delays in delivery can lead to wastage if the produce isn't handled correctly.
KEY PARTNERS/VENDORS
The main suppliers like Unilever, P&G, AMUL may be the partner in the online grocery store.
Local grocery stores can also be turned into business partners, as done by AaramShop.com. It has roped in local stores to procure the groceries to be delivered, while focusing on creating the technology platform and the online interface.

They have created a hybrid model. When a consumer shops on AaramShop.com, she gets to choose a retailer in her neighbourhood that she wants to order from. The order goes to the retailer, who delivers the order and collects cash on delivery. This ensures that the order moves from the web to the consumers' doorstep within 45 minutes, without the need to re-invent the supply chain and with no additional costs.
PORTER MODEL:
Bargaining power of suppliers
In the grocery industry suppliers have enough power to regulate the industry. They are really important players of the industry and the major role of the supply chain is performed by them. Supplier acts main planned roles in managerial operations as well as the surroundings of the commerce. Supplier power is wielded by suppliers demanding that retailers pay a certain price for their goods. If retailers don't pay the price, they don't get the goods to sell.
Bargaining power of buyers
In a grocery industry customers have a fairly high power. During the current financial crisis consumers are very price sensitive and attracted towards the low prices, in addition with the availability of online retail shopping, the prices of products are easily compared and thus selected. Products have a slight differentiation and are more standardised, the switching cost is very low and the buyers can easily switch from one brand to another.
Threat of new entrants
With the increasing use of internet and increasing metropolitan culture online grocery stores are rapidly increasing in India. Also being city specific business model local players are also emerging very rapidly. So threat to the new entrants is high in online grocery store.
Threat of substitutes
Grocery business offers a broad range of product and service offerings including bakeries, delicatessens, wine and spirits stores, banks, florists, clothing, pharmacies, books, CDs, DVDs, flowers, wine, gifts and electrical goods. In this diverse nature of business we cannot stop customers to switch from one brand to another brand but the extreme quality and excellence can compel the customers to stick to a single brand for a longer period of time.
Rivalry among competitors
The intensity of competitive rivalry in the food and grocery retail industry is extremely high. Competitors' confrontation is to seem over the current strategies in e-tailing in agreement to the altering tendencies in online transaction, customer business behaviours, advertising communications, wants and demands, and so on. In grocery industry competitors are really strong and they have been working in this industry for a long period of time.
RESOURCES:
www.bigbasket.com www.reliancefreshdirect.com www.amazonfresh.com
ARTICLES & reports: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/online-grocery-shopping-vegetables-new-trend-in-india/1/197141.html http://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/online-food-and-grocery-retail-outlets-in-india-rising-report/