At the recent World Retail Congress in Paris, a panel of international retail executives discussed emerging trends in the industry. Their wide-ranging discussion included a number of topics, including co-operatives, emerging markets, and online shopping.
The panel was particularly interested in the views of Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner, and not simply because Ocado is the largest online food retailer in the world. Mr. Steiner also attracted attention because the United Kingdom’s grocery industry is several years ahead of other countries that were under discussion.
In Russia, multi-store retailers represent only a small portion of a grocery store market that is still dominated by local shops. In that country, as well as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, own-brand supermarket products account for less than five per cent of sales and are focused on non-food items.
Steiner was able to point out how the UK has made it to the point where Tesco alone accounts for almost one-third of all consumer spending on food, and own-brand products account for 40 per cent of Ocado sales.
He shared with the audience how Ocado’s warehouses in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and Dordon, in Warwickshire, were the largest grocery stores in the world. He also said that his company had an “unbeatable proposition” because it can offer a larger range of items and better prices than its brick and mortar competition. Mr. Steiner also mentioned that some of his customers spend £150 on grocery shopping in five minutes.
Research has revealed that UK consumers spend nearly £400 per person per year online. This figure marks them as the highest online spenders in the world. Consumers in Denmark spend less than £300, and buyers in the United States purchase less than £200, according to Eurostat data. Figures from the British Retail Consortium indicate that 17.5 per cent of non-food purchases in September were made online.
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