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1. What realistic solutions can FreshDirect implement to withstand the competition it faces from both traditional grocery stores (including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s) and other online grocery stores? How do these solutions fit into the current actions of the company?

1. Collaborate with more suppliers to increase the range of products offered

Traditionally, product content was only provided by catalog companies, but now, grocers can get content directly from suppliers. This content is fresh, high-quality and high-resolution — just the right sort of content for online needs. Grocers not only benefit from higher-quality content but from lower costs as well.

A new generation of companies are emerging to deliver tools and technologies designed specifically to help grocers store content and syndicate it directly from suppliers. Grocers should look to collaborate with their suppliers to receive this product content and partner with a platform to make the relationship as seamless as possible.

Current actions : Fresh- Direct’s biggest operational design component for reducing costs was the complete elimination of the middleman. Instead of going through an intermediary, both fresh and dry products were ordered from individual growers and producers and shipped directly to FreshDirect’s production center, where FreshDirect’s expert staff prepared them for purchase. by buying locally as much as possible and using the best sources of the season, it was able to bring food the shortest distance from farms, dairies, and fisheries to the customer’s table. As we can see Fresh Direct already has an excellent supply chain model , by incorporating new generational tools & techniques they can customize / mix n match their store content and syndicate it directly from more number of suppliers , basically what this means is that new technology can get Fresh Direct get in touch with a larger supply base directly which in turn means a larger variety of fresh customized products for its customers.

2.  Create rich media.

Rich media, which refers to videos, enhanced marketing content and 360 views, is now standard on a number of e-commerce sites. However, most grocery sites haven’t tapped into this type of product content. The biggest opportunities for grocers are to create immersive content that shows how their products are used in everyday situations. These could be recipe videos or marketing content showing multiple products being used together. From there, grocers can add buy buttons directly into the enhanced content to facilitate higher conversion rates and higher online sales overall.

Current actions: Fresh Direct already has an excellent plan in action wherein FreshDirect has teamed up with the online recipe website Foodily and launched a new service called Pop chart. The service allowed users to order deliveries of food ingredients directly from online recipes, and it would operate exclusively through FreshDirect for some time. The Internet was a popular recipe source for home cooks, but shopping for ingredients was widely seen as an unpleasant chore. The new Popcart technology alleviated this burden by linking with the FreshDirect portal and providing next-day deliveries. “This is really at the heart and soul of making food shopping easier for consumers BUT for all these endeavours the media exposure is clearly missing which they need to inculcate really fast if they want to withstand the stiff competition from other online grocery and brick & mortar grocery retailers. the trick is to be 1 step ahead .

3. Free Deelivery on Membership

You may have heard of Walmart Grocery before, but the company recently launched a new membership option called Delivery Unlimited. When you purchase it, you’ll avoid the delivery fee on all of your orders for a full year.You can get produce and pre-packaged foods through Walmart’s grocery delivery service, from frozen meals to bananas. If you live near one of the 3,000 Walmart stores that participates in the program, there’s also the option to have your order loaded into your car outside the store (which is free of charge).

Current actions: Fresh Direct Orders have to be a minimum of $30, with a delivery charge between $5.99 and $8.99 per order, depending on the order dollar amount and delivery location. Delivery was made by one of FreshDirect’s own trucks and was available only during a prearranged two-hour window from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week. However in addition to this if Fresh Direct could give an optional membership offer underwhich if the customers avil it , they can get free deliveries for a full year. The offer could be something like Membership: Optional, unlimited free delivery for $98/year

4. Reduce the Delivery time & 24/ 7 Delivery

Shipt is a grocery delivery service that lets you shop from different stores depending on where you live — including an exclusive partnership with Target.You can get your groceries delivered as quickly as one hour after ordering, and you can place an order whenever the store is open (even if it’s open 24/7!). Shipt has recently worked with retailers to make more delivery times available due to demand. If something isn’t available or an order needs to be adjusted, you can easily communicate with your shopper via text.

Current actions: Our food is fresh, our customers are spoiled. Order on the web today and get next-day delivery of the best food at the best price, exactly the way you want it, with 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed. Recently, however, many consumers questioned the freshness of the food delivered by FreshDirect. Since online shopping did not give customers the chance to feel and choose the products themselves, they had to rely completely on FreshDirect to select the food for them. This notion did not appeal to some customers.This is probably one of the most important action for improvement , since recently many customers have been complaining about the freshness of the foods delivered , its imperative in nature that the grocery ordered is delivered within a 1 -2 hour period from the time of ordering rather than next day delivery , who knows in this process of next day delivery , once the items were out of the production unit where the strictest of quality control norms were ensured,by the time the products are delivered the next day during this transit time ( in in-house inventory storage possibly ) , the freshness took a hit…! Also in order to stay 1 step ahead of the competition round the clock delivery order acceptance & delivery has to be ensured, and not just a small window.

5. Entice Millenials:

To lure the young, affluent, and urban US households, Fresh Direct has to work on 3 major things:

•           Seamless Customer Experience on your online grocery marketplace.

•           Eliminating the logistics and supply chain hurdles if any

•           Entice Millennials

Current actions : Competing with other online grocers, specialty gourmet/gourmand stores in Manhattan, and high-end chain supermarkets like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Fairway, FreshDirect was trying to woo the sophisticated grocery shopper with an offer of quality, delivered to the customer’s door, at a price more attractive than others in the neighborhood. Not only the sophisticated online grocery shopper , in order to stay ahead of the competition Fresh Direct has to lure one and all especially the young crowd , the next generation. Attentive service and friendly online interaction play a major role throughout the entire ecommerce grocery experience for the millennials, ensure that this is done seamlessly. Easy to Navigate eCommerce grocery website & better Loyalty Schemes are other ways of enticing one and all specially the millenials.