Question

which lifecycle stage is the retail (Grocery stores) industry currently in? how do you predict the industries overall performance in the future?

Answer 1

       You name it and you have it. This line aptly describes the story of grocery store. Fresh food or preserved food, you can have everything here. The concept of grocery stores came into existence during mid-1910s. It is difficult to believe that it has been more than 100 years since the concept of grocery shopping has been in the market. Although there are online stores but a major share of the grocery market lies in the physical stores. People are still a bit reluctant in ordering the grocery online because many of them still wish to know about the freshness of food being offered.

       The lifecycle of any product starts from introduction, followed by innovation, growth, maturity and decline stages. The introduction stage of grocery stores is a far gone concept as it dates back to more than 100 years ago. The innovation stage is full of ups and downs as the innovation based on IT sector cannot be predicted. One good development in the IT sector can change the game for retail stores. After going through innovation stage, the stores have been through growth and maturity stages. The decline stage is not near if we look at current scenario.

          Covid-19 has given retail stores a new hope. Grocery stores are having guards sanitizing the hands of all the people coming for the shopping, which relieves the eyes of all the prospective buyers. Such steps cannot be made visible if one engages in online shopping. If one had talked about the future of physical stores in mid-2019, it would have been difficult to predict if these will ever see an upward trend or not but with the coming of this virus, it can be said that physical grocery stores are going to experience more footfalls than ever before.

         Post Covid-19, the situation will still be in favor of these grocery stores for a couple of months but if we look ahead, there is a large scope for grocery stores if they go online. E-grocery stores will have a large number of customers clicking on ‘Add to cart’ icon as it will save a lot of time, efforts and manpower. The future of both physical as well as e-grocery stores is bright but it will be clearer once the world passes this phase of recession.