Freshness Under Attack

Some food for thought found its way to my Inbox this morning, courtesy of the nice folks at Internet Retailer. Michigan State's Last Mile Supply Chain Center ran a survey asking people what they thought about online grocers.

The news isn't good. 200 customers of three online grocers were surveyed, and they said that the grocery sites have become harder to use since 2003, and one grocer was faulted for a site that loads slowly. (I'd link, but it's a subscription-based article.)

The article closed with this cheerful thought: "The study also found that customers believed that the quality of products available online had declined at each retailer compared to products purchased directly from their stores."

Now the key word in that sentence is believed. The food from both sources could have been equally good, but if the customer perceives a difference, that's a problem. Though the details of the study haven't been published, I'll go out on a limb and say we're comparing unprocessed foods like meat and produce and not cans of soup.

If you're selling food, I think there are three things that need to be stressed, in this order: Quality, freshness, and taste. I don't think you get as far as taste in the customer's mind until he or she is satisfied that the quality and freshness standards have been met.

I've said before that Americans take freshness for granted, and in the case of an established relationship with a brand or seller, I believe that's true. However, we are trained from childhood to seek out fresh foods, and even though that process may slip into a subconscious acceptance of something familiar, it's waiting like a coiled snake to hit the panic button when a product seems a little off. One bad bag of chips might not keep a customer from coming back, but it gets the hackles up, and a second bad bag is the end of the trust.

In the case of online food sales, not only do we have the basic concerns of providing quality, freshness, and taste, but the additional need to promote, sell, and deliver what is essentially a blind item to our customers, understanding that any glitches or imperfections in our online and delivery systems can negatively impact the customer's perception of our products.

In other words, if the site loads slowly, is frequently offline, or offers substandard features, we can inadvertently trip the freshness trigger in the customer's mind, following the rationale of, "If they can't get this right, then how good can the food be?" Add in some shipping delays--the one aspect of this business that we can never control--and you've got a customer with diminished expectations evaluating the product. Even if the product is perfect, the hassle of getting it can lead the customer to conclude that it isn't that good.

Now add the friends and family factor. Unhappy customer tells everyone she knows about her disappointment, and their own freshness triggers trip. The result is wary eyes looking at online catalogs.

As food retailers, it is an obligation to deliver the best possible experience online and in the customer's home, so that we can minimize any shipping problems we encounter. That means responding to customer concerns about our sites in a timely and supportive manner, so that we can all benefit from increased customer confidence.