Grocery E-Commerce Software: 5 Reasons Why You Need It [+ Top Providers]

It’s a busy Saturday. You have a to-do list a mile long, and it all starts with grocery shopping. You hurry through the store and make it home… just in time to realize you’ve forgotten a key ingredient.

If this frustrating scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone — it’s a scenario many of your customers are probably familiar with, too.

Grocery shopping can be a time-consuming task, and many don’t enjoy it. With busy schedules and countless distractions, it’s easy to forget items or spend more money than you initially intended. 

But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Introducing e-commerce to your grocery store is a great way to give your customers a better shopping experience, especially if they aren’t in the mood to shop in store. Not only can you help improve the customer experience, but you open up new doors to additional revenue without having to invest in more labor.

In this post, we’ll go over the five reasons for investing in online shopping for your grocery business, and give you a few of our top recommendations for e-commerce providers.

Let’s jump in.

How Grocery E-Commerce Software Can Elevate Your Business   

With online shopping rapidly becoming the norm, your grocery store needs to have a strong online presence and provide a seamless shopping experience for customers if you want to stay competitive with bigger brands and chains.

Grocery e-commerce solutions range from basic web stores to track in-store orders to sophisticated, highly-personalized online shopping experiences. No matter what type of system you use, online sales are only possible by using an inventory management system that’s capable of automatically updating stock levels for both in-store and online sales.

Not sure if online sales are right for you? Here are five reasons to offer online grocery shopping at your store.

1. Enhances the Customer Experience  

Grocery e-commerce software allows customers to shop online from the comfort of their homes, eliminating the need to physically visit the store. 

This increased convenience can help you attract new customers and increase sales. And as the majority of people find new businesses online, a modern online presence can also positively affect people’s perception of your brand.

If customers routinely shop for the same things, they can save their cart for easy reordering the next time they need groceries. They can also save their payment information and shipping address for faster checkout, reducing the time and effort required to complete purchases.

A well-designed e-commerce platform provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface that makes it easy for customers to navigate your selection. 

2. Boosts Sales Through In-Store Pickup

Many small grocery stores aren’t ready to dive into local delivery or partner with services like InstaCart that send out pickers. That’s OK! In fact, some experts believe that the majority of growth in online grocery sales will come from in-store pickup, not delivery. 

However, even if people are picking up in store, they’ll still expect a user-friendly online shopping experience. Make sure your inventory system is keeping your stock levels up to date, and regularly audit your stock to check for stockouts.

Related Read: 7 Supermarket Marketing Strategies To Implement and Win

Nothing is quite as frustrating as going to pick up an order and finding that your favorite brand is out of stock. Sometimes, stockouts are inevitable. To reduce frustration, prioritize communication. Send out a text or email if you need to make a replacement, giving the customer time to decide before they arrive.

Speaking of communication, the more the better! Many e-commerce platforms automatically send messages to customers when orders are received, being prepared, and are ready for pickup. 

3. Helps You Build Community and Drive Sales

It might sound counterintuitive, but a strong online presence goes a long way towards building a local community. Over 90% of people find local businesses by searching online, so having a website that showcases both your selection and your personality is essential for drumming up business.

The more people who can find your business, the more people who will shop there — but if you only have a Google business listing and a basic website, people might not get a full picture of what you have to offer.

Offering online sales helps attract customers who might not have discovered your shop otherwise. It also gives you another marketing channel to advertise on — better yet, if you captivate someone with a deal, they can buy it right on the website.

When building your website, focus on search engine optimization (SEO) so it shows up higher in search results, and make sure you include pictures and an informative “About” page that lets people understand your values and specialties.

Pair your website with a consistent social media strategy to give your business a human face and unforgettable personality.

Related Read: Social Media for Grocery Stores: 9 Top Tips & Tools

4. Improves Customer Retention

The convenience of online shopping isn’t the only way it can increase sales. Online sales also make it easier to retain customers through better marketing and more personalized engagement. 

Every time a customer makes an order through your site, you collect their email and their shopping history. This allows you to tailor offers to their tastes, and numerous studies show that personalized offers are far more effective than blanket discounts.

Plus, people don’t usually do all their grocery store shopping in store or online — most do a mix of both. By offering convenient online options, you lower your risk of losing in-person customers who temporarily need the convenience of an online option.

If your customer loyalty program works seamlessly in store and online, you give customers even more incentive to stick with your brand. 

5. Drives Better Decision-Making With Data

Many grocery e-commerce solutions also come with reports and analytics tools. These give you valuable insights that help you make more informed decisions about your business. Grocery store analytics tools enable you to:

• Make personalized product recommendations. 
• Uncover in-store vs. online shopping behavior for better merchandise planning.
• See customers’ search history to see if there are any frequently searched items you don’t offer.
• Understand the effectiveness of promotions and marketing (and see if there’s a difference between online and in store).
• See key performance metrics (e.g. average cart size, customer retention rate, profit margins by category).
• Discover bestselling items and slow-moving inventory.

Having a combined platform for both your physical and online store gives you an even more detailed understanding of your customers’ behaviors and preferences.

Grocery Store E-Commerce Software: 5 Top Providers

When considering grocery store e-commerce providers, you first need to consider a few things. There are three types of solutions:

1. All-in-one point of sale (POS) and e-commerce: These systems allow you to manage both your in-store operations and your website.
2. Standalone grocery e-commerce: These solutions typically connect with your existing inventory system to provide a more advanced online shopping experience.
3. Third-party grocery marketplaces: These solutions put your stock online, but don’t require a dedicated website. Instead, they charge a fee to fulfill the order for you.

All of these options have their strengths and weaknesses. For example, an all-in-one solution is probably easiest to use, but might not have the convenient bells and whistles of a more expensive standalone option or the built-in customer base of a third-party marketplace.

Here are some of our top picks. 

1. IT Retail

IT Retail is our all-in-one solution built for grocery stores, international markets, and organic markets. With over 30 years of experience collaborating with small businesses, we’ve created tools that are industry-specific and easy to use. 

Best for: Independent grocers looking for a comprehensive in-store and online solution

Top features

• Manage both in-store and online operations on a single system.
• Integrate with top e-commerce platforms like InstaCart, Freshop, and Mercato, so you can customize the online shopping experience.
• Make better decisions using intuitive reports and analytics.
• Keep your customers happy with built-in and customizable customer loyalty.

Pricing

We offer several flexible pricing tiers based on your business’ hardware and software needs. Use our transparent build and price tool to get started.

2. Wave Grocery

Wave Grocery provides omnichannel e-commerce solutions that are specifically built for grocery stores. Trusted by customers worldwide, they cater to both local single-location stores and large chains.

Best for: Larger grocers looking for omnichannel online sales and advanced solutions

Top features

• Pick and choose the features you want as you grow, with flexible options for a grocery store website, mobile app, picker apps, loyalty, and more.
• Give pickers an accurate location for all of your products and offer smart product replacement when a preferred product isn’t available.
• Give less tech-savvy customers an easy option for grocery shopping while maintaining accurate inventory with phone ordering options.

Pricing

Wave Grocery starts at $600/month. 

3. Instacart

InstaCart is one of the most popular grocery apps on the market, listing multiple grocery stores and allowing customers to choose. While not a single-store e-commerce solution, listing your business on InstaCart puts you in front of their massive user base.

Best for: Grocers who want to expand their customer reach without added labor

Top features

• Simplify online grocery fulfillment — InstaCart will send pickers to your store to prepare orders for you.
• Enjoy flexible options to build an e-commerce site or simply partner with their fulfillment services.
• Add InstaCart functions to your existing website using their Modular E-commerce suite. 

Pricing

Contact InstaCart directly to understand how they apply fees for their pickup orders. 

4. GrazeCart

GrazeCart is specifically aimed at farm stores, butcher shops, and other businesses that sell fresh meat, produce, and other variable-weight items online.

Best for: For farm shops and butchers who need subscriptions and sell-by-weight functions

Top features

• Generate recurring revenue by offering subscriptions on repeat orders or through curated subscription boxes.
• Simplify sales of meat and produce with robust weight-based selling functions.
• Build a website easily using GrazeCart’s no-code website builder.

Pricing

GrazeCart offers several flexible pricing tiers depending on your needs, along with a free 14-day trial.

5. Freshop

Freshop is another standalone e-commerce solution that aims to give independent grocers a path to upgrade their website to a full multichannel shopping experience.

Best for: For grocers who want more than just a basic online grocery

Top features

• Turn on different fulfillment types (e.g., pick up, delivery, endless aisle) as needed and set rules for each type so you can grow your online business on your terms.
• Improve your marketing with digital weekly ads and circulars that reflect your in-store prices with no markup.
• Give customers a mobile-native shopping experience using either Freshop’s app or a white-label grocery app.

Pricing

Contact Freshop’s team to get a full list of pricing and services.

Transform Your Store With the Power of Grocery E-Commerce Software 

Adopting grocery e-commerce software is more important than ever — you have to compete with supermarkets and big-box stores if you want to be successful.

But today’s customers don’t just want any old online shopping option — they want one that’s convenient and tailored to them. Implementing a specialized e-commerce solution is essential to deliver the experience they expect.

IT Retail gives you the flexibility to upgrade your in-store experience while laying the foundation for any number of online shopping options. Our platform supports integrations with many of the leading grocery marketplaces and e-commerce solutions, so you can choose the option that fits best for you.

Contact our grocery store experts today to learn more.