7 Reason For Grocers to Refer PorchBoxDrop - #1 Brand Dilution... and More

by PorchBoxDrop Admin

We will pass on the "more customers" benefit because, it's obvious but then, clearly it's working for the lowest of low of grocery retailers...

 #1 Brand Dilution

Clearly, statistics suggest grocers need to improve consumer online user interfaces, experience, delivery and provide a new shopping environment for their most loyal, frequent and quality oriented customers.  Recent Forbes editorials focus on the negatives of using delivery services and third party network online ordering platforms which dilute grocery branding in favor of the network.  

Another indication of third party delivery solutions creating more image and marketing problems for local grocers are how Instacart, DoorDash and others minimize the role of the deliverer, even to the point of stealing their tips. (HERE) These dramas by third party delivery networks are taken seriously by consumers who don't like to see their tips used illegally as hourly wages. Imagine if you did that to your produce department employees....how would your customers react if you were called out in the local news? Brand dilution is real and a serious threat to years of good, community based grocers. 

This LINK to a 2019 Yahoo Article "Why Walmart farms out same-day grocery deliveries to low-cost freelance drivers" is an interesting endorsement of grocers figuring out a better way to provide branded delivery.  (HOWEVER, note how 9 out of 10 readers of the article said they didn't want an unknown deliverer handling their grocers.)


Delivery is where a LOT falls apart.  Third party order pickers handle the orders and delivery but they aren't employees nor are they brand ambassadors. Thank goodness, because they usually show up in used vehicles not wearing uniforms and representing the store as a part time job. Consumers ordering online therefore, typically interface with a digital mobile app, a payment portal, texts from the picker regarding progress on the order and delivery questions, and finally, delivery by this same third party company with no contact with the store except for the procurement and delivery process...strongly hinting they want to be tipped.

So, PorchBoxDrop provides a neutral, unique, industry specific, yet non-competing technology that represents a way to deliver (using your own or a third party delivery network) to a customer's home in a manner that the consumer sees only YOUR branded bags with their safe, secure, refrigerated groceries 24/7.

#2 Time Commitment

The "delivery window" requires a time commitment the consumer usually took upon themselves but now consider to be annoying.  Busy consumers, when asked, use "convenience" as one of the major reasons for ordering delivery and also as one of the major reasons delivery is a problem. On one hand, they want delivery, and on the other they don't want to be tied down at home waiting for it to happen. 

Third party delivery networks WANT the consumer tied down so that the delivery person can collect at tip, which is the major part of their income.  Even though the consumer can leave a tip in the PorchBoxDrop, we guess it's better for deliverers to be able to pour out their best spiel when face-to-face with the customer = bigger tip.  We get it. We just think a lot of consumers who want delivery neither deserve or want to deal with the begging process....so does removing the "....you must be there in person to accept..." rules of delivery networks provide even more incentives for customers to go online?  Maybe.

Consider one more aspect of the PorchBoxDrop benefit to your customers.  Once it's there in front of them and they see it every time they come and go, will they 'forget' about grocery ordering from the grocer that recommended the PorchBoxDrop? We don't think so.

In the 'old' days, the milk man would use the existing milk box because, even back then, they didn't want the financial or legal liability for the 'box' 

 

#2 Ownership

In the delivery scenario, the deliverer/store OWNS the items until the consumer accepts them personally or they are put in a mail box. There's no expedient or completely safe way to escape that potential liability. The PorchBoxDrop acts as the 'mail' box for groceries.  

In addition, the porch box drop is wholly owned by the consumer, and it must be so to work well with no liability to the grocer, and no risk of spoilage claims if the box isn't connected or operational for any reason. So, even if the consumer wants to involve the store in the receiving and storage solution, a PorchBoxDrop is an electrical appliance that can be used/accessed by any delivery person - or other grocer or product delivery - the consumer desires, taking it out of the sphere of the stores responsibility. 

Further, there is no history or logic to the store taking responsibility for the cleanliness, operation, maintenance or delivery and set up of the PorchBoxDrop appliance itself (and there is little financial benefit to the grocer for doing any of those tasks).  Our offering, PorchBoxDrop, is the 'tiny' step forward. As a grocer, you have no fear of loss or spoilage of product to PorchBoxDrop owners.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

    #3 You Can't Leave it On the Porch Without Absorbing the Risk

    Even if you’re delivering at the appointed time, if the customer isn’t there, leaving it behind creates a risk of loss you must take responsibility for.  Statistics regarding porch piracy are skyrocketing, as packages left by deliverers are disappearing.  (Groceries – who doesn’t need them?)  Having a secure PorchBoxDrop protects the store from claims a lot more than the consumer.

    Un-deliverable orders KILL any economy of scale or other benefit you gain with consumers who have no problem being late or not there when their order shows up. In fact, we know of many, many deliveries to customers who ARE at home, but don’t answer the door. (Are they trying to avoid tipping?) Leaving an order on the porch creates two problems – A. risk of contamination or spoilage, and; B. risk of theft, and: C. no tip for your deliverer.  (However, it’s A. and B. that affect YOUR brand, and it’s A. and B. that PorchBoxDrop eliminates)

    You could even say to a consumer who has failed to be available in the past “we only deliver to customers who have A. a history of being at home when we deliver, or, if not; B. a PorchBoxDrop to handle the delivery in the event you can not be there.”

    #4 A Major Concern to Grocers - Loss of the Customer Relationship

    So, how does that make a case for PorchBoxDrop? Referring a delivery solution that makes it easier for them (while making it easier for you) is something they won't forget. You can place advertisements in the box with your previous delivery offering "premium" leave behinds or discounts to incent them to use YOU and only you when they order groceries online.  Remember that when a customer orders from Instacart, the customer becomes Instacart's and is no longer on the grocery website. 

    Significantly, when the customer elects to consider a competitor, they will find that competitor (of yours, Mr. Grocer) on the Instacart website.  Further when you elect to leave Instacart the customer stays with Instacart. You can't access your own Instacart data set.

    Third party networks are a problem, long term, and restaurants found this out the hard way and some, like Panera have figured out their way around the issue of third party ownership of their relationship and data by bringing deliveries in-house, and have been very successful at it vs their competitors.  Like the restaurant industry, which isn't as near as complex as groceries, there is a need to be able to claim - own - and manage independent delivery in-house when necessary. 

    #5 Online Orderers are More Loyal and Spend More

    Here's some more interesting data, if you're a grocer. According to "Brick Meets Click's" online grocery ordering press release for upcoming 2019,  "...households that use an online grocery delivery or pickup service: a) place more frequent orders (1.9 vs. 1.6 orders per month), and b) spend considerably more money per order (an average of $105 vs. $46)." (Yet, in another survey, consumers say they spend less online)  This equates to households spending almost three times more with a delivery or pickup service."

    PorchBoxDrop will only cause an increase in spending because the 'best' customers are the economically viable, local, loyal, busy, entertaining, big family kind of customers with the largest orders who will order more often...

    #6 Our Aging Population NEEDS a Delivery Option That Their Children Can Employ to Help Out Mom and Dad, Grandparents, Extended Family...

    One in 4 U.S. adults – 61 million Americans – have a disability that impacts major life activities, according to a report in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

    The most common disability type, mobility, affects 1 in 7 adults. With age, disability becomes more common, affecting about 2 in 5 adults age 65 and older.

    “At some point in their lives, most people will either have a disability or know someone who has a one,” 

    So, if a quarter of the population has a disability, which is an important enough statistic, what percentage that doesn't have a disability also have parents or elders that do?  Since the kids can just as likely be your customer - even remotely - even from far away - in order to make sure this older generation is eating properly, you're providing more than a 'shopping experience' when you offer online ordering and delivery.  Really, what choice do the kids have but to find the  best local grocery delivery and to do so in the very near future?

    In The New York Times, writer Nona Willis Aronowitz made a compelling case for why Amazon is essential for her family. Her dad had a stroke a few years ago and is no longer functionally ambulatory. He relies heavily on the service to deliver essentials, cheaply and conveniently, right to his doorstep. The same goes for her sister who went through an intense round of chemotherapy last year after she was diagnosed with cancer.

    #7 You Benefit as an Affiliate

    We offer remuneration to our referring grocery affiliates via an automated process that is built in to a custom web link we provide to you for your website. If a prospect orders from us and the referral came from a click on our link on your website, you benefit financially.  (In effect, we deliver a delivery solution for you.)

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    All of the delivery-related activity makes sense, says Steve Bishop, managing partner and co-founder of Brick Meets Click, a consultancy for grocery retailers. He says "...the industry is increasingly online and delivery—along with customer pickups of web orders—is essential to grocers that want to successfully compete".

    Finally, PorchBoxDrop has the understanding, experience and history and the modern, delivered solutions that are innovative, technologically current and which fit all the varieties of your customer's needs.  Isn't it better to 'be there' first? We hope to hear from you!

     

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