Human beings have become digitized due to the presence of on-demand applications. Today you have on-demand applications for services like food, grocery, etc., to name a few and one of the major services that have been transformed due to the presence of the online applications is the online grocery applications.
According to a study by Nielsen, it was found that the USA, the UK, Japan & France has about one-fourth of its shoppers who already shop grocery online and are willing to do so in the near future too.
Though the online grocery applications have a promising future, it faces some challenges too that sometimes make it a worry for users. But before we look into the challenges, let us see the operation of the application and the features of the application so that we can explain the challenges more clearly.
How the Online Grocery Application Works
- User logs in or registers into the online grocery application
- A user adds their location and gets a list of all the nearby grocery stores
- User lists the items they require from the grocery store
- He can books order for same-day delivery or a later date
- User makes payment by choosing from cash, card or wallet
- The user gets groceries delivered to them.
Now that we know how the online grocery application works, let us see the features of the online grocery application
- In-App
Tracking – With the help of the in-app tracking feature, users can track their
grocery delivery and know its exact location - Multiple
Payment – Users can choose from multiple payment modes like cash, card or
wallet, to make the payment for the items that they require from the online
grocery application - Multiple
Stores – In case users cannot find the items they are looking for from one
grocery store, users can visit other stores and get the items they are looking
for delivered to their doorstep - Book
Delivery for Same-Day or Later Date – With the help of the online grocery
application, users can get their groceries delivered to them either on the same
day or on a later date.
Despite these features and the advantages that the online grocery application has for users, it faces some challenges too. Let us understand these challenges in detail.
Challenges Faced by Online Grocery Applications and their Solution
- High Price – During occasions, online grocery applications charge a hefty price for the items that are available in their store
- High Waiting Time – When users order grocery from online grocery applications, it often happens that the waiting time is high for them
- Difficulty to Connect with Delivery Driver – During the time of delivery, it becomes difficult for users to get connected with the delivery driver and know their location
- Faulty GPS – The faulty location tracking prevents the user from tracking the whereabouts of their grocery delivery
- Privacy Not Respected – Users complain that online grocery applications do not respect their privacy and have complained their data was leaked and their payment-related information got leaked.
Thus, to sum up, these challenges faced by the online grocery applications and its solutions have made it lose some of its popularity among its users.