Transforming the Supply Chain: E-commerce for Food & Beverage

The consumer demand for ordering food and drink online is steadily increasing. Of a samples set of 2,000 U.S. adults, 31 percent of them had purchased food online as surveyed by Harris Poll last year, with 16 percent buying fresh produce and continuing to do the same on a regular basis. In the years to come, retaining and increasing the consumer trust will be of key importance to future-proof supply chain processes.

Maintaining the accurate sales and lead data in real time is a critical aspect of maintaining overall efficiency. Experts say that the influencing trends to attract customers in the food and cold supply chain logistics are supply chain transparency and e-commerce. Investing in multi-party networking infrastructure can help increase the visibility for service providers, retailers, and manufacturers, to offer dynamic inventory control in a broken global supply chain.

With marketing analytics data, brands can push products that appeal to an individual’s preferences, through target advertising and promotions. Similarly, businesses can improve the online shopping experience of a consumer through personalization data with the help of exclusive online platforms. Browsing data of a user could be used to provide them with recommendations and recipe ideas, increasing up-selling chances to website visitors. Live chat applications can be another unique way in which a brand can support online browsers, who need help in making certain decisions on purchase. Such automated apps can provide quick responses to frequently-asked queries on every aspect, from product sourcing to delivery time.

Food and beverage companies that can embrace these emerging technologies can easily and safely expand their markets and handle every aspect of their supply chain through their systems. By bringing in transparency and automated efficiency measures to secure brands and customers alike, suppliers can greatly leverage e-commerce platforms that show huge promise as an untapped source of revenue.