Benchmark release · 200 banners, 8 countries, assessed this quarter. About

Chapter 01 / The shelf you cannot see

Search finds the item. Nothing says whether the store has it.

Search works. Filters work. The catalog is complete. What the digital channels cannot do, at most grocers, is say whether the item is on the shelf in the store the shopper is about to drive to, how fresh it is, what tonight’s dinner could be made from it, or whether the price on the shelf tag is the price in the cart.

The fill-in trip goes to whichever store can promise the item.

1.1

Search finds the item. Nothing says whether the store has it.

13% of grocers show a live stock level for the item at the shopper’s chosen store. 32% show nothing about stock at all. The rest say only in stock or out.

Read the finding and the decision ↗Sign in for the full finding
1.2

Nobody tells the online shopper how fresh the food is.

Freshness & Expiry Information, supermarkets: 63% Basic (no expiry information), 32% Developing, 5% Advanced, none Leading. Online Inspiration, the group it sits in, is 53% Advanced or better, so the gap is this capability, not the group.

Read the finding and the decision ↗Sign in for the full finding
1.3

Tonight’s dinner is a North American habit, not a grocery one.

Meal Solutions & Recipes at Advanced or better: North America 57 of 105 banners (54%), Europe 26 of 85 (31%). In-Store Inspiration, its group, is the second strongest group for supermarkets at 60%.

Read the finding and the decision ↗Sign in for the full finding
1.4

The promotion on the shelf is not the promotion online.

Loyalty Pricing Visibility, supermarkets: 33 show no member price online at all, 57 show a fixed member price, 22 Advanced and 4 Leading, so 26 of 116 (22%) keep the online price in step with the shelf. Cross-Channel Promo Consistency (56%) and Weekly Ad Integration (40%) support.

Read the finding and the decision ↗Sign in for the full finding

The four levels behind this chapter

Every number in this chapter is a share of banners at Advanced or better. Here is what the four levels mean.

BasicThe capability is absent, or barely there.
DevelopingIt exists in part: in some channels, some stores, or a reduced form.
AdvancedIt works everywhere the shopper looks.
LeadingIt works everywhere and adapts to the shopper: personalised, real-time, or best in class, in the definition’s own words.
A capability at Advanced or better works everywhere the shopper looks. The share is always of banners, never of stores, shoppers or sales. Bases under 20 banners appear only inline, with the base beside them.

Put the findings to work

Pick twenty stores and the 200 fastest-moving fresh and staple items, and show live stock for those items on the product page and in the cart.

Read the perspective ↗