US e-commerce sales for food and consumables surged 16.9% to $15.9bn in 2012
E-commerce sales for food and consumables increased by 16.9% from $13.6bn in 2011 to $15.9bn in 2012, according to Willard Bishop.
"Changing consumers, Amazon’s recent expansion announcement and new click and collectpick-up models will help ensure future success", says managing partner Jim Hertel. But Amazon is not the only game in town, and many other players will emerge with different ordering and delivery models, he predicts.
"This whole area blew up 12 or 13 years ago after Webvan met its demise [Webvan - a pioneer in this space - burned through large sums of money in the late 1990s and then went bankrupt in 2001, while PublixDirect - launched in 2001 - was shut down in 2003] but I think e-commerce is a tremendous overlooked opportunity, and Amazon Fresh [which now incorporates Webvan] is not the only format that's likely to succeed."
Ahold-owned Peapod, which started in 1989 in Chicago, and SimonDelivers (which shut down in 2008 but was re-opened as CobornsDelivers) are still going strong, as are FreshDirect, YourGrocer.Com and Shopritedelivers.com while other chains such as Safeway are also starting to operate in this space, he says.
