What you need to know about successful eCommerce in the food sector

The food sector is always in motion. It is an incredibly diverse industry, including manufacturers and wholesalers. Each segment of this market has its own needs and issues. Therefore, in this blog, we will focus on how eCommerce platforms can help address various challenges. In addition to sector-wide challenges, we will also look at manufacturers and wholesalers. Read on to discover what you need to know about successful eCommerce in the food sector. 

eCommerce solutions in the food sector

Manufacturers and wholesalers face different factors and challenges in their daily operations. However, there are similarities in the challenges faced by nearly all segments in the food sector. We outline some of the most common factors where an eCommerce platform with smart solutions can help. 

• Order and delivery times: In a sector where product freshness is crucial, customers expect accurate insight into delivery times. When working with fresh products, you also want an easy ordering system with visibility into delivery days. Therefore, it is wise to integrate your ERP system. This allows your system to calculate the best possible delivery dates for ordered products. This ensures that everything arrives fresh and at the desired time. An additional advantage is that by integrating your ERP system, your supply and inventory will be better aligned.
• Complex pricing: In the food sector, you often work with daily prices and various forms of products, making it complicated to keep prices up-to-date on your webshop. Therefore, you want to use an eCommerce solution that can calculate complex price structures, considering daily prices and prices related to the form of the products. This way, customers see the current price of your products immediately after choosing the desired delivery date.
• (Vertical) marketplaces: Bringing supply and demand together in the food sector is extremely important and can be challenging. As a producer, you want to quickly sell your products because they are often perishable. As a wholesaler, you want quick and easy access to these (fresh) products. Many companies do not have the platform, logistics, and reach to sell products online. To tackle this challenge, you can use smart eCommerce solutions, such as a (specialist) marketplace. On a well-organized platform, there is the possibility to sell products from other parties, bring them to attention, or create space for inspiration. Such marketplaces bring specialists together through short lines of communication.

How does it apply to your industry?

The challenges and opportunities discussed above apply to the entire food sector. But what about manufacturers and wholesalers specifically? They cannot avoid overlap in challenges but also have their own obstacles, solutions, and gains.

Manufacturers

In recent years, we have seen a shift towards manufacturers and producers delivering directly to consumers (D2C) instead of the traditional wholesaler in between. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this shift towards D2C, which is visible throughout the entire supply chain, including manufacturers and farmers who deliver directly to consumers. With an eCommerce platform, you can cater to this trend by integrating your ERP system for a seamless experience, ensuring customers always have an up-to-date webshop with customer-specific pricing agreements. 

Manufacturers in the food sector have an advantage over wholesalers: consumers value sustainability more and more. This includes sustainably produced (local) products, transportation, and packaging materials. As a manufacturer, you are closest to the origin of the product. Reflect this in your eCommerce strategy by showcasing your sustainable initiatives or focusing on an ‘authentic experience’ to strengthen the connection with your brand. 

Wholesalers

How can you, as a wholesaler, establish a solid eCommerce strategy and compete with the growing D2C strategy in the market? Besides manufacturers increasingly delivering directly to consumers, there is also another form of blurring. More and more supermarkets are encroaching on traditional B2B territory by delivering directly to business customers. 

This new competition requires wholesalers to adopt a renewed strategy that is more personalized and responds to new market trends. For businesses, especially restaurants, sustainability, plant-based and/or organic options, and healthy food are hugely trending. Your offering and how you present it must adapt to these trends to stay relevant and visible to your target audience.

An important question to ask yourself is: how do I position myself in the supply chain? For example, should you compete with supermarkets? Another interesting answer could lie in B2B vertical marketplaces, a place where you bring supply and demand together in specific segments. With a strong platform and seamless ERP system integration, you ensure that sellers and buyers can find each other. KPMG and Forbes suggest that with a well-developed strategy, you can significantly impact the market. And is it profitable? Research by McKinsey indicates that 60% of B2B buyers are open to purchasing through a digital marketplace. This means you can bring a large market segment together through a vertical marketplace. 

Digitalization in the food sector

The food sector faces many challenges where digitalization is a requirement. For brands and wholesalers, there is no future without eCommerce, an omnichannel strategy, and personalization. This involves not only opportunities around D2C, the growth of eCommerce in the food sector, or optimizing your ordering process, but also threats and opportunities due to the blurring of business models and the increasing importance of sustainability. Want to know more about digitalization in the food sector? In this whitepaper, we delve deeper into this.

Stay a relevant player in the food sector

The food sector is a diverse industry with various interests and issues. Throughout the supply chain, we see challenges around a short time-to-market, labeling, sustainability, and constantly changing trends. By smartly setting up your eCommerce platform, leveraging developments like vertical marketplaces, and remaining flexible, you stay a relevant player in this sector.