Are online shopping and delivery finally

PHILIPSBURG – Following supermarkets, distributors on St. Maarten also offer the option of ordering food supplies for home delivery via WhatsApp. What can we expect next: a new platform for online shopping and delivery? Or will the drastic change in consumer demand stabilize once we flatten the curve?

The ill wind of COVID-19 has blown a change so vast that it is hard to tell disaster from opportunity. The new dynamic is bringing some supermarkets unprecedented demand. The larger supermarkets are receiving hundreds of relatively large orders a day from people desperately trying to arrange to get food and drink deliveries for the weeks ahead. Not being able to cope with the demand, the supermarkets admit clients may have to wait three or four days before their groceries can be delivered.

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs warns followers on social media not to order at two or three supermarkets at the same time because that will slow operations even more. Supermarkets on St. Maarten are also facing other problems with delivery. As Kam’s FoodWorld explains: “When we went to deliver the groceries to customers, to our utter dismay, in certain areas we couldn’t locate the street name signs. This is a major hindrance for supermarkets to perform efficiently. It’s been noted that many neighborhoods do not have street signs perhaps since Irma. I do believe the situation we are in, will prompt continuous delivery services, and I request the government to please update the street signs, as it’s a necessity and added benefit for those old and new to find their way around the island.”

Grocery delivery, with its ‘contactless’ drop-offs, was supposed to be the ultimate pandemic convenience. It promised to keep people at home and out of crowded stores, facilitating the social distancing needed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Many customers complain that ‘it is not working’. That conclusion is somewhat premature, as this process was urgently implemented and it came with challenges. Many companies do not yet have the technologies that allow them to scale as they grow in popularity.

Even the largest retailers on the planet are struggling to keep up with the unprecedented consumer demand. Amazon announced it can’t fully manage the crush in orders. As a result, it is delaying the delivery of non-essential items, or in some cases not taking orders for non-essentials at all. Consumers are also reporting weekslong waits on Instacart, Shipt and other leading platforms as demand far outpaces the supply of available workers and groceries. Since March Amazon has hired more than 100,000 new warehouse and delivery workers, and it’s planning to bring on 75.000 more workers.

In the meantime, Amazon and other online shopping platforms have undoubtedly benefited from the coronavirus lockdowns that forced other retailers to close their businesses. In the space of a month, online shopping and on-demand delivery have transformed from a luxury of the rich to the connective tissue holding much of the economy together. With online retail sales estimated to reach an eyewatering $6.5 trillion by 2023, the ecommerce sector was already booming.

But since the outbreak, online shopping has been catapulted into complete overdrive. E-commerce spending in the U.S. is up more than 30% from the beginning of March through mid-April compared with the same period last year, according to market research firm Rakuten Intelligence. Following the initial stockpiling period, there was a shift in spending preferences. Despite being a fraction of the overall share of spend, there was a whopping 777% increase in book purchases, followed by 182% growth in the toys and games category and 131% growth among sports and outdoors items, which includes gym equipment.

Following stay-at-home orders, many people started baking bread and preparing healthy meals. That’s good news for home appliance sellers. In the United States, online sales of bread makers increased by 652%. One and a half times as many refrigerators and freezers were also sold in a short time. Mixers, fruit shakers, nutribullets also sold like hot cakes. On St. Maarten, entrepreneurs are preparing to deliver new online services. Coming soon: Influenced, an online store for women’s apparel and fashion.

TropChop.com, a delivery service for local restaurants, is now looking to work with supermarkets for on-demand delivery of groceries. Distributors are implementing changes to improve the processing of orders. But the rush is subsiding, and consumers are starting to manage their expectations. They’ve realized they can’t just go online and get their groceries delivered in an hour or two, so they’re starting to plan ahead.

Meanwhile, the question remains: will this drastic change in consumer behavior stabilize once we flatten the curve, or is this our new normal? And will more companies manage to adapt? When threatened by crisis, many companies will be focused on defensive moves, but it’s wiser to focus your attention around emerging opportunities.