Food and grocery businesses need to take the "lead" or will ultimately "lose" out in the retail environment of tomorrow, according to IGD Chief Executive Joanne Denney-Finch.
The IGD CEO was speaking at the Canadian Grocer Thought Leadership Conference in Toronto, where she outlined her vision for the retail sector of tomorrow.
"Retailing is splitting into two parts: one largely automated and super-efficient and the other based on delivering inspiration," Denney-Finch explained. "The blueprint is already emerging, not in one single place but spread across the world.”
She outlined how greater automation of everyday, staple purchases will drive shoppers to seek out excitement and creativity for the balance of their grocery shopping.
“As people’s lives keep growing more hectic, so spontaneous buying and eating will also be even more popular," she said.
"Online services will respond to this too, with meal kits and ready to eat food delivered to the door at rapid speed, but physical stores will always have the edge for instant gratification and for products we like to see before we buy.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
