The grocery delivery sector is expanding at a rapid pace. Considering the different variables involved in its operations, it is providing a decent service to the consumers. People prefer buying groceries online through an Instacart like app rather than going to a supermarket.
There are several reasons for this. High-pressure jobs, the convenience of grocery delivery at home, long waiting lines at the mall, and preserving work-life balance are some reasons. However, there are still a number of challenges faced by grocery delivery businesses and consumers alike.
If you are an owner of an Instacart clone app, make sure you read this article. Here, we are going to discuss the challenges faced in grocery delivery and their solutions.
Challenges of Instacart Like App and Their Solutions
1. Increasing Storage and Delivery Cost
Fruits, vegetables, milk, and other perishable products are difficult to store and distribute. Demand may decline if businesses purchase large storage units. Furthermore, the delivery location is generally not near to the area where businesses keep groceries.
It’s not easy to put in place the proper infrastructure. Dealing with difficulties like delivery delays, incorrect product deliveries, returns, etc, may be extremely difficult for an online business. The whole supply chain, from the farmers to the warehouses to the ultimate clients, must be meticulously handled. Otherwise, the entire business will fail.
If customers don’t receive a necessary item regularly, they will abandon your grocery delivery app. The chances of letting a mistake go without consequences are very low. People are also averse to paying delivery fees.
When the order quantity is modest, the cost of delivering the order is sometimes more than the item itself. This is one of the main problems that plague every grocery delivery business owners.
Solution: Integrating the Instacart like app with a sophisticated inventory management system can help overcome this issue. That will automate everything, reduce storage costs, and businesses will know exactly what the consumer wants. This will also cut down on waste.
App owners can also satisfy the customer’s expectations by connecting with a trustworthy app solution provider.
It is preferable to divide the delivery network into several local network systems to address food delivery issues more quickly.
2. Low-Profit Margins
Many individuals nowadays prefer to buy groceries through an online store not just for convenience. They also expect to find fantastic discounts. Every grocery delivery app now faces the challenge of providing affordable pricing.
However, they must invest a significant amount of money to construct and maintain adequate storage facilities. Maintaining a well-organized supply chain system is also a headache. A single Instacart clone app cannot bear all of these expenditures. As a result, maintaining appropriate profit margins is a difficult endeavor.
Furthermore, a majority of buyers prefer to make a purchase only after inspecting fruits and vegetables for freshness and quality. This option is not available when buying online. As a result, convincing clients to buy groceries online is a perpetual struggle for every Instacart like app.
Solution: The online store can add more non-perishable things, such as packaged foods, personal care items, beauty products, home items, etc. These items have a lower cost of storage and delivery.
To create a brilliant client experience, businesses can combine their retail and online grocery businesses. This will drastically reduce their running costs. Businesses can use warehouses located outside the city where leasing costs are low to store non-perishable commodities.
However, relying on out-of-town storage for groceries is not a smart idea because it will raise transportation costs. An online grocer must have a fleet of specialized delivery trucks to ensure that the customer timely receives the products.
3. Inefficient Delivery System
Every Instacart like app may not be capable of dealing with spontaneous purchases. People do not like to plan ahead of time what groceries they want to buy. If they want to consume something, they want it as soon as possible.
The last thing a consumer wants to give up is the pleasure of a spontaneous purchase. Most individuals still prefer to buy groceries themselves rather than waiting for vendors to deliver them. Strictly adhering to a delivery schedule can solve this problem for grocery delivery app owners.
Solution: This problem can only be solved if grocery delivery solutions adhere to a strict delivery schedule. For example, the buyers should receive the products within 30 to 45 minutes. Only then will they switch from impulse grocery shopping to online shopping.
4. Traditional Customer Behaviour
Changing consumer behavior is one of the major issues the grocery sector is facing. Due to habits formed over a long period of time, the majority of individuals don’t prefer purchasing groceries online.
Shopping for groceries has always been a way of interacting with other people. People enjoy going to a store and then picking up the items they require. Also, they have this misconception that if you purchase online, you will not receive high-quality items.
Solution: Customers are becoming more interested in organic products. However, this trend may not be sustainable due to a lack of biological resources. Businesses can learn about several methods for clients to obtain those natural goods at a reasonable cost.
Brand value of the Instacart like app interests consumers as much as the quality of the food. They are more likely to buy from a brand that is well-known. There must be something in store that gives the consumer a sense of achievement.
5. Customer Loyalty
With the increasing competition in the market, it’s more vital than ever for consumers to remain loyal to a business. Many users might move to different vendors as an experiment and then forget to return to the app. It’s possible that the rival store has more features or products.
Solution: Businesses can retain their customers by offering some fantastic discounts and benefits. Increasing the variety of the products will also work in their favor.
6. Poor Inventory Management
When it comes to inadequate inventory management, the main issue is that automated processes fail occasionally. Grocery delivery app solution is often marred by manual error and might fail to produce the desired outcomes. This is a significant problem with which grocery delivery businesses are frequently confronted.
Solution: When it comes to inventory management software, it’s critical to pay attention to every aspect. Business owners must make sure that their development partner tests and verifies the functions of the solution before deploying them. The QA and software testing teams must double-check all functions to ensure that the final product is well-designed and error-free.
In Conclusion
Grocery shopping is the most basic human need. However, owing to time restrictions, consumers are increasingly resorting to shopping online. As a result, the concept of an online grocery company is well-suited to the current business environment. Make sure you don’t give in to the difficulties of grocery delivery app development. Instead, discover ways and come up with better and more technologically sound ideas after each step.
If you want your online Instacart like app to reach unprecedented heights, simply go through the hurdles and strive to overcome them. It would make it even easier for you if you have a trusted technological partner by your side. At Narola Infotech, building what our clients have envisioned is what we strive to do. You can contact us anytime and get a free quote today.
