American Express has released its second Canadian Retail Insights Report, which had Nielsen poll 375 senior members of retail organizations, including 54 members of the grocery industry.
Among the findings of the survey, 85 per cent of grocery retailers will offer sales, promotions or discounts this year. 66 per cent of respondents will invest in better customer service while 59 per cent want to expand product choices. In addition, 70 per cent of those polled are optimistic about the grocery industry this year, which is down from last year’s 78 per cent of respondents.
“Given the heightened competition, I’d say the grocery industry is really focused on putting an effort behind keeping current customers,” says Jennifer Hawkins, vice president and general manager of merchant services at American Express Canada.
Although e-commerce is the way of the future, only 11 per cent of the grocery industry polled offer online shopping, yet 54 per cent of those questioned believe it is not relevant to their industry.
“There is an opportunity for grocers to think more seriously about the online space, and expand their customer base by doing that,” says Hawkins. “It’s clear that grocers are very focused on keeping current customers, but there’s more they could be doing.”
