Food and Beverage Industry: 3 Reasons to Embrace E-Commerce

Is introducing or revamping your online sales channels on your to-do list for 2018? Here are three reasons that you made the right choice.

Online Grocery Shopping will Grow

Still on the fence about selling online? Let 2018 be the year you leave your doubts behind.

Online grocery sales in the U.S. are projected to grow to $29.7 billion by 2021. This is almost 500% growth compared to as recently as 2012, when the market was worth just $5 billion. Buying food and beverage products online is fast becoming the norm, and you don’t want to be one of the last few to embrace the new digital reality.

And this isn’t a passing fad. research by FMI and Nielsen reveals that a massive 80% of respondents who have purchased groceries online plans to do so again, or already have. As ordering food and beverage products online becomes the norm, professional buyers will soon follow suit thanks to the ongoing consumerization of B2B sales.

New Technology, New Opportunities

The projected market growth and proven staying power demonstrates that making it easy for your customers to buy online is a great way to capitalize on existing opportunities. But a smart approach to e-commerce also paves the way for future success.

Amazon Prime members have been able to use Dash buttons for almost three years now. Last year, we saw Google released their Google Home Mini and Max smart speakers, entering an already competitive market.

Setting up a smart online sales channel now will only make it easier to move with future ordering trends. Voice ordering using a digital assistant on a variety of devices? Or working with IoT-enabled appliances like refrigerators? With the right approach to digital sales today, you’re bringing countless future opportunities within reach.

Accelerate Efficiency Across Your Business

Your e-commerce endeavor’s sales benefits are clear. What might be less obvious, however, is how your whole business can profit from your digital sales channel, particularly if it integrates with your ERP.

Think of when you implemented your Microsoft Dynamics ERP. You were able to bring together all your key company processes together in one place. Clear, centralized, and a future-proof way to ensure everyone has access to the most recent business data.

Connecting your e-commerce solution with your ERP lets you take that efficiency to the next level. Setting up an automatic data exchange between the two systems lets you cut back on time-consuming and error-prone data entry. Even better, it ensures your Microsoft Dynamics system remains your single source of truth, simplifying your processes.

In short, ensuring your web store is a seamless extension of your Dynamics system saves time and boosts accuracy across your entire business.

More Data on the Food and Beverage Industry's Digital Future

Curious about more digital transformation trends in the food and beverage industry? Download your copy of the new Food and Beverage Trend Report and see if your business is prepared for our new digital reality.