Online grocery shoppers have rated Independent Grocers of Australia (IGA) best for online grocery shopping for the second consecutive year in Canstar Blue’s Customer Satisfaction ratings, rating IGA over supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles.
Canstar Blue asked over 2100 Australians who have ordered supermarket groceries online in the past six months to rate the online shopping service of these supermarkets based on their overall satisfaction, as well as their delivery/pickup reliability, availability of products, value for money, customer service, freshness of food, special offers and website navigation.
“IGA outperformed both Coles and Woolworths for overall satisfaction to take home the award. IGA also scored highest in five out of eight drivers of satisfaction, but couldn’t eclipse its competitors on value for money, special offers and website navigation.”
Metcash Head of Digital Channels Lee Martin says, “It’s really our local IGA store owners that have won this award. They pick and pack every order with care for their locals, just as if they were shopping for their own families.”
“What started during the pandemic as IGA Priority Shop, a basic home delivery service to support elderly, vulnerable or isolated customers, has now evolved to IGA Shop Online, a full online shopping offer that provides a home delivery service to customers from their local participating store, straight to their front door.”
Canstar Blue’s research showed just over two fifths (43%) of online grocery shoppers claimed to use online shopping more during the pandemic. In fact, 38% of Canstar Blue’s survey respondents indicated that being able to purchase groceries online was essential to them during lockdowns.
Canstar Blue Home and Lifestyle expert Megan Birot says online grocery shopping has taken on new significance since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Since the pandemic, supermarkets have had to ramp up their online offering to cater to the increasing demand for contact-less shopping, but consumers still expect to see the same service, quality and value as when they shop in-store,” Ms Birot said.
It’s likely there will be a growing number of online grocery shoppers in future with 24% of those who started purchasing groceries online during the pandemic intending to continue to do so going forward.
“Shopping online for groceries is the new normal and consumers will be expecting the best from their local supermarket, so competition will be rife,” Ms Birot said.
To view customer satisfaction research and ratings for over 1800 brands across more than 300 consumer products and services, visit Canstar Blue’s website.
Myfoodlink offers e-commerce solutions
For over 10-years, Myfoodlink has been partnering with independent grocers and bottleshops across Australia & New Zealand, providing them with an affordable solution in getting their business online. Myfoodlink currently looks after over 1200 stores including brands such as Bottlemart, Drakes, FoodWorks, FreshChoice (Woolworths NZ) and over 200 of some of IGA’s largest stores.
“At Myfoodlink we are very proud to partner with Australia and New Zealand’s leading independent grocery businesses in their transition towards e-commerce. We congratulate our IGA partners on their dedication to delivering outstanding services to their communities over the last two years and in achieving such fantastic recognition with the Canstar Blue Award for Most Satisfied Customers for Online Groceries,” says Myfoodlink Sales & Digital Marketing Manager Elliott Bailey.
Retail e-commerce is often set up and run as a separate warehouse fulfillment business.
“Grocery online is very different with the idea of the online store operating as an extension of your physical retail store, with staff picking from the same shelves that the everyday customer shops from. With the average supermarket stocking over 10,000 products at any given time, you can imagine how complicated it is to manage this online. This is where we as Myfoodlink come in to help,” Mr Bailey said.
Independents are known for their unique local offering often supplying products from producers in their community.
“It’s the point of difference that Australians love about the independents, and something that is important to champion online. We connect each website directly into the in store POS system so that every product that is available instore is also available online. It’s this point of difference that sets them apart from the big players and allows them to compete with the likes of Coles & Woolworths,” he concluded.
