What has been the real impact of COVID-19 on the Grocery Industry?

With COVID-19 drastically reshaping the retail landscape and becoming the catalyst for shifting consumer behaviour at scale, UK Grocers have been at the forefront and witnessed these changes take full effect. 

As the UK enters another national lockdown (the third in ten months), are Grocers now more prepared than ever to tackle this third wave of infections and more importantly, what has been the real impact on the grocery industry?

We recently surveyed over 100 customer experience retail leaders across Europe to better understand how the retail journey has changed as a result of the pandemic. From our participants verbatim, insights and overall statistics, the grocery industry was arguably the most affected. 

We discovered that the grocery customer journey has been greatly impacted by COVID-19, with 100% of respondents stating so. We also discovered the balance between the rise in both online and in-store shopping - with 38% of Grocers stating they’ve seen an increase in store visitors and 85% stating they’ve seen an increase in online sales. 

Retailers also shared with us the changes they’ve made to adapt to the ‘new normal’ of grocery shopping, and the measures they’ve put in place to help tackle fears around health and safety. As well as how they are investing in digital innovations to ensure a seamless, safe omni-channel shopping experience for customers. 

We’ve collated all the insights we gleaned from the Grocery sector recipients and presented it in our new bitesize white paper, Industry Spotlight: The new Grocery Retail Journey Revealed. With exclusive insights from retail giants including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Marks and Spencers and Co-op, download Industry Spotlight: The New Grocery Retail Journey Revealed today and discover what the future holds for the grocery sector.  Click below to download: