The food service landscape of grocery and Convenience stores has undergone some rapid changes recently, mostly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Necessitated by the need for consumer health and safety, a number of new ideas are creating ways for consumers to get what they want without sacrificing overall convenience. Here are some of the latest trends that are shaping the future of supermarkets and convenience stores:

Online shopping

Smart store owners are using technology to help them stay in business and keep their employees busy. By upgrading their websites and offering eCommerce solutions, consumers can visit them online to view their entire product inventory and virtually place the items they want in a basket. At checkout, store employees then hand-pick the requested items and have them available for home delivery or curbside pickup. In addition to providing greater convenience to customers, online ordering makes the shopping experience safer from the coronavirus by limiting consumer and employee interactions.

Personalized experiences

Technology is also a great tool for tracking each customer’s buying habits and using that data to form a more personalized relationship with them. Convenience store owners can send customized emails or text messages to their customers with special offers on the products they purchase most frequently, increasing product sales and bolstering additional loyalty.

Healthy choices

Busy consumers don’t want to spend a lot of their valuable time in the kitchen, but they still want to make sure they are feeding their families healthy meals. Pre-packed foods have come a long way over the years to provide this kind of convenience and value. Manufacturers and convenience store distributors recognize that people have a variety of different dietary requirements, such as low-sodium foods, gluten-free products, vegan/vegetarian options, etc., and are filling those niche markets with healthy food options that also taste great and are easy to prepare.

Atlantic Dominion Distributors closely follows consumer buying patterns to make sure our supermarket and convenience store clients can stock the kinds of products their consumers are looking for. We also offer next-day delivery service to help you maximize shelf space without the need for housing a large inventory of products.

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