One goal, one approach? A comparative analysis of online grocery strategies in France and Germany

Abstract

With an ever-growing variety of sales formats, food retailers are striving to cover all customers’ needs. This includes setting up online sales, which involve adjustments in companies’ logistics processes. This paper reveals which logistics processes are affected and what effects these changes have on the transport and logistics of groceries. The paper examines the following questions: 1) What are the characteristics of the online grocery market? 2) Which challenges do retailers face in the online market? 3) And what strategies, in particular which logistics and distribution strategies, do they use to meet these challenges and with what success? The research is based on expert interviews combined with in-depth desk research. The paper focuses on the German and French online grocery market, where the forms of supply differ greatly. Applying a systematic research methodology, the paper first describes what types of online grocery services are currently available, mainly distinguishing between home delivery and collection options. The different patterns of storage and picking are compared in terms of their strengths and weaknesses and by assigning them to a modular scheme. The next step examines logistics processes and online sales-related distribution strategies, whereby most challenges are shown to be operational and optimisation is a challenge due to low margins. Consequently, existing location structures are often used, but new ones are also created. A typology of online logistics strategies and distribution organisations is derived with regard to the impact of online sales strategies on the logistics and transport structure. The paper concludes with a discussion of these impacts and an overview of future opportunities.