Food e-commerce and the numbers that it has shown within the time that the pandemic has affected, it seems like that the service would retain its customers also after the pandemic is gone. The service has shown the demand for it and also the future for the service in an everyday life of a customer. Food e-commerce has become a new normal and the return back to the normalcy can be tough after the pandemic has subsided (Morgan, 2021).
As the exceptional pandemic forced customers to find another way to make grocery shopping, has brought many people regarding the customer group and age to the service and also made the service well-known at the moment (Putila, 2021). For the younger people online buying in general is already a common thing to do and with the pandemic times in the world it also got the elderly people to the known of the service and possibly got them as a loyal online customer even after the pandemic.
The retaining of the customers would depend on the fact how well the service is maintained and updated within the quickly changing market. The convenience that the service provides for the customers is the main reason for the usage of the service and the customers are getting used to it during the time they consume this service. The visiting and going for the grocery shopping to the physical grocery store after the pandemic has ended, can be tough when the customers knows that there would be easier and more effortless way to do their grocery shopping. The pandemic has attracted some of the customers to the service but there will still be the ones who likes to visit the store and do their grocery shopping at the store.
The cost effectiveness and profit optimization are the main key objectives for online grocery businesses. For the e-commerce businesses it is critical that the service would be a profitable business rather than making losses for the company when using it. If the businesses are going to increase the costs of the delivery or collection of the food e-commerce for to gain profit, it could lose part of the buying customers online and that way be even more
unprofitable business. Online grocery can be profitable only through maximum operational and marketing efficiency (Galante, 2013).
When thinking about the future and the time when the pandemic has totally ended, the situation with the online grocery market and technology has been changed to another new level. By that time the food e-commerce has been in usage and has seen what is working and what is not and making the needed changes to develop the service to the level that it needs to be. As the technology develops constantly within the time, more convenient and efficient ways are coming into the operations of food e-commerce and the usage of the online grocery store, which will ease the operations, increase the efficiency and the customer experience of the service.
8 Conclusion
The main topic of this thesis was the development of the food e-commerce collection in K-Citymarket Pirkkala. The aim of the thesis was to study, how the food e-commerce collection process could be further developed and to see the recent situation with the food
e-commerce in K-Citymarket Pirkkala.
Qualitative research was made to study the food e-commerce in general and specifically the food e-commerce collection in K-Citymarket Pirkkala. The data collection for the research was done through interviews, observation, and literature review.
The research that was made showed that there is space for development for the food e-commerce collection process. The collection process for food e-e-commerce operates well at the moment but there is still room for development. The development points for the collection were updated web store, bigger collection spaces, new helping technology, and the lack of efficiency in the collection.
The research results showed also what factors are affecting the food e-commerce collection, what is the optimal commerce collection and the challenges that are included with e-commerce collection in K-Citymarket Pirkkala. With these results the whole picture of food e-commerce collection can be seen and what all factors are involved in it.
The topic of the thesis was interesting and relevant to the situation in the world right now.
The service has been actively operating for the last two years and there was enough material to study from. Making the thesis was an educational journey, which was challenging but still rewarding. The most challenging part of the thesis process was the collection of the sources that needed to be high-quality.
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Appendix 1: Interview 1
haastattelu kauppias Petri ja verkkokauppa vastaava Samuli
1. mistä osatekijöistä hyvä verkkokaupan keräily koostuu?
2. miten verkkokaupan perehdytys tapahtuu perehdyttäjän ja perehdytettävän näkökulmasta? (sisältö, aika)
3. miten verkkokaupan keräily on onnistunut, minkälaista palautetta antavat keräilijät / minkälaisia huomioita antavat vakijäsenet? / mitä palautetta asiakkaat ovat antaneet keräilyn onnistumisesta?
4. minkälaisia haasteita keräilyyn liittyy? keräilijän näkökulmasta / toimintaympäristön näkökulmasta? (kauppiaalle/verkkokaupan vastaavan näkökulma?) perustele miksi?
5. miten kehittäisit verkkokaupan keräilyä? perustele miksi?
6. miltä näyttää verkkokaupan tulevaisuus? automatisointi? robotti? perustele miksi?
Lisäkysymykset kauppiaalle
• montako ihmistä ruoan verkkokaupan keräily työllistää?
• onko verkkokauppa toiminta tuloksellista?
• onko verkkokauppa tullut jäädäkseen?
• tietävätkö kaikki asiakkaat ruoan verkkokaupasta? millaista verkkokaupan markkinointi on?
• voiko opinnäytetyössä käyttää kaupan ja haastateltavien nimiä vai tuleeko niistä kirjoittaa anonyymeinä?