Online shopping experiences, particularly fresh produce..

[SportsTrophy 10]

I use Parsnips and Pears home delivered vegetable boxes on a weekly basis.

 

They also do a range of fruit with cheese, bread, flowers etc.

 

I am very happy with the quality of the produce although more expensive than supermarkets you can indeed taste the difference. I like the whole beetroot's cooked in the oven.

 

If you want to go online, I can help with that. Once you have a few customers it will be worth doing a leaflet drop in the local area's so you don't have to go miles and when neighbours talk about you they have a reference to hand.

[mlfc 10]

You could also combine taking orders online and then delivering with a van stocked to sell door to door and with appropriate vehicle signage. When you make a delivery you could use a tannoy or knock on the few doors around where you've made a delivery, making reference to your happy customer, to drum up more business

[barleycorn 10]

I don't order fresh fruit and veg online (or indeed any of my weekly shop) but if I did the things I would be must concerned about would be getting bruised or damaged items and strange substitutions.

 

As an aside I don't have a local green grocers where I currently live but have in the past and the main reason I rarely used them was because they were never open in the evenings. For me a late night opening a couple of times a week would have seen me getting all my fruit and veg from there.

 

jb

[Tombo46 10]

Thanks a lot for the replies everyone. I think to explain to people what we are already doing I should describe the service and my reasoning behind it. It seems there are a few business heads on here who will benefit from knowing how we intend to operate! To everyone that took the time to tell me what they like/dislike about their current deliveries thank you =]

 

Right! As said before we have been around a while and already run a successful business (been established 30 years) but we have noticed over the past few years more and more people saying that they wish they struggle to find the time to get to us and/or they struggle to park when they happen to be passing. It has become clear that convenience is becoming a large part of peoples shopping habits. As people said before one of the obvious things to do is to open later. After all most professionals work 9 - 5 so we attempted late opening which turned out to be a waste of time. We found that the trade just spread across the day and takings were only very marginally up. Usually with this sort of thing you have to stick by it to see results and we did. I think that if the whole block had done it then maybe it would have worked but on our own we had no chance.

 

So we decided to try and cater for the customers who were busy by making the shopping as easy as possible for them. After a bit of research nearly every customer we spoke to said they would like an evening delivery. This tied in well with what we do as it reduces cannibalisation on my current trade and also makes the service reliable. With the shop closed, even if drivers let me down I am always there to fall back on.

 

I did some research and travelled around the country to speak to people who had already done similar things and they had been successful. As we are all pretty friendly in the fruit and veg game they were all more than happy to talk to me and let me pick their brains. After these chats we had a pretty clear direction is where we wanted to head.

 

We decided on a name and worked from there. The name is simple and say's what we do and also allows for expansion. We decided that instead of putting the produce in to boxes that we would instead use jute bags which can be returned on a repeat order. Our intention is that if the customer does not want another order they can keep the bag(s) and use them how they like. This is to serve as a reminder that we are there and also provide the customer with something they can use. To get the business off the ground we have had 50,000 leaflets printed which will be delivered in 5000 batches to ease us in to the business. Obviously everyone who has a first order may not stick around so we are going to expand and make people aware as it suits us. I'm not in the habit of employing staff based on false promise so I will only employ to suit the business as it grows. The incentives for a first order are that we offer free delivery (with about a £10 minimum order) as well as 20% off your first order. This pretty much earns us nothing on your first order however we are confident we can provide quality produce and a good service so we are just buying a chance to show this.

 

As well as fruit and veg we are supplying other things from the shop and some things that are not. We also stock Locally baked bread (baked to order for the deliveries), Cakes/Biscuits, Preserves, Milk, Local Eggs, our own fresh orange juice and Longley farm dairy products which a lot of the supermarkets reduced their range of due to it not having a high enough profit margin. Other things we are going to offer are hand tied bouquets (and other flowers/plants) which we have been doing for years and also fruit baskets. Everything we do basically as it doesn't hurt to have it available! On top of this we have collaborated with the butcher next door and also a local fishmonger so hopefully the average spends will be higher and it will allow the customer to buy fresher.

 

The website is being built professionally and will accept orders up until 9pm for delivery the next day. I have put a massive amount of effort and money in to this and really have not cut any corners. I decided that I wanted EVERY SINGLE PHOTO on the website to be taken by myself. I bought a light box to take photo's in but built a much larger one to take photo's of the bags/flowers etc.

 

We are having a commercial video shot in the next couple of weeks which will explain what we do etc which will be the first thing new customers see. Signed in customers will see the usual scrolling banner etc. We had the van wrapped early for this purpose. Let's just say you won't be able to miss it haha. I get up at 2am every morning to go and buy my produce and the video guys are going down with me to film the process from start to finish. We are going to pay a visit to the baker too all being well!

 

I have tried to work with a "local shopping" ethos by using local suppliers. My web developer is local right through to the people who print my bags and distribute my leaflets. I want people to know that by shopping locally with us they are supporting other local businesses.

 

What it all boils down to in the end really is the basic needs of people. That is quality produce at the right price delivered at the right time. I am trying to create a happy medium between the supermarkets and the organic guys. We won't be as cheap as the supermarkets but cheaper than the organic guys. The produce will also be of superior quality/taste. I am also steering clear of forcing people into buying what they don't need. No "BOGOF's" or "2 for's" or anything like that, just simply priced produce sold in small quantities that you want, not what we want you to buy. Fresh produce is not fresh if it's been sat in your fridge for 2 weeks because you were made to feel like you were missing out if you didn't buy that 3rd item. I'll be pricing things like "hand full of sprouts" or "1 carrot" with approximate weights so the customer can order exactly what they want like they would if they came in to the shop personally. Also because the people doing the packing and delivering actually care we should have very little complaint and any problems that do arise can be sorted personally. At present me and my partner work the shop mostly but we do employ staff.

 

Just for the hell of it I'll pop a few photo's up. Every one of these is our own stock and taken by yours truly. I'm hoping people knowing this will be a good selling point. Even the "proper" stock images for the confectionery etc were not good enough so I took my own haha.

 

This was my "light box" I made to take pictures of larger things...

 

 

Some Bread and eggs etc...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaaaaand the "good stuff" ; )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[anywebsite 10]

I think it's a great idea. Not everybody has the time to get out to smaller shops during the day, there are the disabled & elderly too.

 

The supermarkets don't provide a great service for delivering fresh produce, it's almost like they pick the least fresh stuff they can get away with to deliver.

Edited April 1, 2014 by anywebsite

[salsafan 10]

...

 

Right! As said before we have been around a while and already run a successful business (been established 30 years) but we have noticed over the past few years more and more people saying that they wish they struggle to find the time to get to us and/or they struggle to park when they happen to be passing. It has become clear that convenience is becoming a large part of peoples shopping habits. As people said before one of the obvious things to do is to open later. After all most professionals work 9 - 5 so we attempted late opening which turned out to be a waste of time. We found that the trade just spread across the day and takings were only very marginally up.

The reason why it probably did not bring the people to you could be because they do not know. You really need to do a follow up, and say "hey, I can deliver this to your door tomorrow night, will you be interested", and then build on the number of frequencies in order to create that momentum going. You will find out sooner or later who works late, and who really genuinely need this kind of service. It is more direct and personable, and in a way, you will find out soon enough if this is your demographic, and where they are and so forth.

 

But on the other side, becareful of people just giving ideas, but they also do not use your services though. The ones who genuinely needs it will indeed use it again. This is what I mean by knowing your market. These people do exist cos I used to be one of these kind of people who worked nights in Sheffield.

 

So we decided to try and cater for the customers who were busy by making the shopping as easy as possible for them. After a bit of research nearly every customer we spoke to said they would like an evening delivery. This tied in well with what we do as it reduces cannibalisation on my current trade and also makes the service reliable. With the shop closed, even if drivers let me down I am always there to fall back on.

That's what people want to know. They probably also assume that because it is such a local business as well, that things can be dealt with easier, quicker, and promptly. This is the difference between a big player like Tesco to a small local business. The difference is in the service.

 

We decided that instead of putting the produce in to boxes that we would instead use jute bags which can be returned on a repeat order. Our intention is that if the customer does not want another order they can keep the bag(s) and use them how they like. This is to serve as a reminder that we are there and also provide the customer with something they can use.

Let me pick your brain. You are kind of going into the too small details, and forget the obvious. So, what if the customer forget to return the bag ? How does a customer return a bag to you when they use an online service ? I think it's good to maybe offer the bags as introductory maybe, and find a way for continuous service which can allow the customer to dispose of ongoing packaging in an easy way. If you are going to be quite personable, there is indeed nothing wrong with using good old brown paper bags either. At least customers can squash it and throw it away. Maybe use a box for heavier items.

 

It is nice to have a nice jute bag, but are your customers the kind of people who do appreciate this kind of jute bags or do they just want fresh produce delivered to their door for convenience? You can play around the jute bag thing and do not necessarily need to spend a lot on these kind of nice bags for now.

 

If you want your customers to remember you, make it a good and decent emotional service. Truly connect with them and give them what they need. e.g. good honest decent fruits and veg as they want. They will be thankful for this, and it makes their lives easier.

 

To get the business off the ground we have had 50,000 leaflets printed which will be delivered in 5000 batches to ease us in to the business. Obviously everyone who has a first order may not stick around so we are going to expand and make people aware as it suits us. I'm not in the habit of employing staff based on false promise so I will only employ to suit the business as it grows. The incentives for a first order are that we offer free delivery (with about a £10 minimum order) as well as 20% off your first order. This pretty much earns us nothing on your first order however we are confident we can provide quality produce and a good service so we are just buying a chance to show this.

I would take it slow first and see what comes up from that original leaflet marketing exercise, and see if you can actually find a core set of "after workers" customers who genuinely need and like this kind of service. I think they do exist actually in Sheffield because there are so many depots, and data centres, and night staff that, an alternative to your usual "kebab" is possibly kind of revolutionary right now to be honest. If you can offer something like a juicing and bottled juices and things like that for night staff, this would even be more fantastic. It is less heavy than eating meat, and nice to eat something light. Or even just salad boxes. The standard of M&S' salad boxes have dropped, so there is a kind of market there as well. At the same time, are they health conscious people too? You got to truly test the water to find out. And really get them on board.

 

If I were you on the pricing front, I would set a strict price. Really nail it down, so that it will indeed differentiate you from other competitors like the supermarkets, and then with the likes of other online businesses. The reason I say this is because there are so many pricing strategies these days, a set "no frills" price will always going to be sticking in people's minds. "Offers" used to be nice, but these days, so many supermarkets are using these kind of tactics, and nobody is looking after that basic "I see what this is, and this is the price I paid for it" kind of thing. Bring it back to basics. Bring back that "what you see, is what you get". I think the local grocers can deal with this kind of thing. It is also possibly why, a person choose to go to a shop and buy it for themselves, IS because what they see, is what they get, and no hidden frills, and no hidden cheats.

 

I have tried to work with a "local shopping" ethos by using local suppliers. My web developer is local right through to the people who print my bags and distribute my leaflets. I want people to know that by shopping locally with us they are supporting other local businesses.

 

What it all boils down to in the end really is the basic needs of people. That is quality produce at the right price delivered at the right time. I am trying to create a happy medium between the supermarkets and the organic guys. We won't be as cheap as the supermarkets but cheaper than the organic guys. The produce will also be of superior quality/taste.

To me, the local thing is not really about giving work to local people but it is both about being able to survive, as well as making the process more easier. Sometimes it is not out of choices that there are certain companies and certain business units existing in this city. But even if it is, one still has to survive, and the local businesses should be able to provide that kind of gap and meet the needs of these kind of 9-5'ers. Eating well to me is a very important thing. Why should I work so hard, and eat so badly, and then hate myself for gaining weight ? It is not a life.

 

When Tesco changed their opening times to 24 hours, it did cater a lot for those who work in shifts. But their goods have dropped in standard. You would hope that all these supposed "convenience" food is still just as good, but they are not good any more, and you can tell. I think if a company can meet this set of needs, then they would be in the running.

 

Shift works in Sheffield:

- constructions people

- royal mail

- data centres for Virgin Media, and other tech comps.

- Tesco'ers ? (Even they may want good food too.)

 

If you keep it consistent, then people will remember you.

If you asked me where is the 24 hr pharmacy, I can say that it actually exists in The Wicker.

If you asked me where is the 24 hour shopping centre, I say it is the Tesco in Abbeydale Rd.

 

If you want to be that after office hour delivery grocer, then I would say, you are in ....

 

You can indeed expand and collaborate with other decent local businesses, but please please PLEASE choose the GOOD ones.

I hope Pollard Coffee would find its feet back again, and I also hope that some of the old bakeries are used again too. I can see that the standard has dropped as most bakers in Sheffield has turned into a manufacturing chaos. It really sucks. The actual chef and the baker makes all the difference in the world. Not just the brand. If you want people to remember you as that grocer, then your buying skill has to be there.

 

Just for the hell of it I'll pop a few photo's up. Every one of these is our own stock and taken by yours truly. I'm hoping people knowing this will be a good selling point. Even the "proper" stock images for the confectionery etc were not good enough so I took my own haha.

 

This was my "light box" I made to take pictures of larger things...

 

 

Some Bread and eggs etc...

 

 

....

Blimey. E.r....

Well. It looks like your website is under way. Haha. I thought you were still at that brainstorming stage.

 

Ok, ok, I better stop. I got too carried away too on this possible new business process.

Edited April 1, 2014 by salsafan

[Minimo 59]

I would never buy fresh produce online. Quite simply I like to see the products and choose the ones I want.

What would interest me would be a van coming round where you could see the produce and choose for yourself.

Years ago it was quite common to have mobile grocers who would arrive say on a Friday evening, so you could go in and choose just like in a shop.

[tzijlstra 11]

I think it sounds like a proper plan and I really hope to see this come off the ground as successfully as your effort deserves. Good on you!