E-commerce is on the rise. According to a recent Nielsen study, 20% of all households have purchased fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) over the Internet at least once. Online sales in Germany are still low (around 1%), but at a rate of 41% they are growing fast. There is still a lot of potential, as seen in comparisons with Great Britain and France, where 6% of all FMCG are sold online. But what implications does this have for fruits and vegetables (F&V)?
The digitalisation of the retail trade offers many opportunities, but it also presents a number of challenges. New packaging solutions are required, and providers need to cooperate as closely as possible – the keyword here is urban retail logistics. F&V purchases are usually impulse purchases that are seldom planned in advance. Consumers are inspired by all of their senses – this is severely curtailed by a screen. How can impulse buying be boosted in the digital world? The power of fresh produce to draw consumers into stores may mean that F&V sections will become more important for brick-and-mortar retail in the future.
Digitalisation plays an increasingly important role in the retail trade and also impacts on other areas of the value chain. This is one of the themes that will be addressed at the next Fruit Logistica in the supporting programme and will certainly also be the subject of hot debate among trade show visitors.
Companies can still register online for Fruit Logistica 2016 until 31 July 2015. The Fruit Logistica team in Berlin and local representatives in 150 countries around the world are available to answer any questions.
