The traditional retail industry has been influenced heavily by the entry of online grocery ordering and delivery platforms in recent times. Compared to provision stores and supermarkets, these online grocery platforms can function 24×7 at minimum operating costs and cover every nook and corner of the market.
With the Covid-19 pandemic leading to job cuts and revenue losses for several industries across the world, entrepreneurs need to rethink their business strategies before venturing into any market. The United States of America (USA) is one of the important economies in the world with its rising population, high consumer spending, and huge per capita income.
Online grocery sales in March 2021 in America crossed a whopping $9.3 billion in sales in March 2021 with orders coming from more than 69 million households. The industry has grown by an impressive rate of 43% in just a year. Launching an online grocery delivery app like Instacart in the American market would be a viable solution for entrepreneurs to earn hefty profits in no time.
Instacart is one of the important players in the USA selling more than 500 million products in partnership with 45,000 large-scale and small retailers on its platform. With its robust business model and clever innovations, Instacart has overtaken heavyweights like Amazon Fresh, FreshDirect, Shipt, and Walmart. It is valued at more than $39 billion currently.
Examining the functioning of the Instacart clone app
- The customers register on an app like Instacart by submitting the required information. Faster sign up is ensured by allowing shoppers to create an account by entering details of their Facebook and Google Accounts, and their phone numbers.
- The delivery executives create a profile on the Instacart clone app and can opt to work either full-time or part-time according to their convenience.
- The users add the required items to their cart by viewing the prices and availability.
- The customers process their order and choose either curbside pickup or home delivery.
- The shoppers can make the required payment through Apple Pay, credit cards, debit cards, Electronic benefit transfer (EBT), Google Pay, and UnionPay.
- The admin alerts the delivery executive to pick the grocery order from the nearby retail store.
- The delivery personnel go to the grocery retailer store and take the order.
- The delivery executive reaches the users’ location quickly by utilizing the route optimization mechanism.
- The customers receive the required groceries and rate the overall quality of services. They can also share feedback about the behaviour of the delivery personnel.
How entrepreneurs are put in an advantageous position by creating an app like Instacart?
- They can acquire a huge number of customers – quickly by offering round-the-clock order processing and delivery options.
- Reduced operational costs – through effective distribution of products with the help of dedicated micro-fulfilment centres (MFCs) and warehouses. This decreases the expenses on the management of logistics for the entrepreneurs.
- Real-time sharing of information – with the entrepreneurs related to inventories prevents situations like shortage of goods and under-stocking.
- The Instacart clone app – is a customizable, ready-made and white-label solution that can be instantly deployed in the market giving a competitive advantage for the entrepreneurs.
- Greater sales for the retailers – on an app like Instacart through strategic placement of advertisements like promotional videos and sponsored posts.
- Adequate flexibility for the entrepreneurs – in managing their daily business operations as they can offer a mix of curbside pickup and door delivery for timely fulfilment of grocery orders.
- A rise in average order value of each shopper – by providing them attractive discounts and offers to encourage them to regularly purchase products from the Instacart clone app.
- Numerous sources of revenue – for the entrepreneur through the Instacart Express membership plan, a commission from grocery retailers for listing their products for sale on the platform, publishing targeted advertisements, order cancellation charges, and transaction processing fees when shoppers utilize the in-built payment gateway.
The key statistics that entrepreneurs must monitor after developing the Instacart Clone App are
- The user retention rate by viewing numbers related to Daily active users (DAU) and Monthly active users (MAU).
- The performance of the marketing campaigns by tracking the Cost per Click (CPC), the Click-through Rate (CTR), and Revenue per Click (RPC).
- Financial information like cash flow, costs, expenses, profits, and revenue earned every month, quarter, and year.
- Overall customer rating of the online grocery delivery services on a scale of 1-5. Steps can be taken to improve user experience and enhance satisfaction by aiming to remove negative reviews.
- The average number of orders placed over a period by individuals and households.
- The percentage of sales received from curbside pickups and home delivery of groceries.
- Accessing data related to the highest ordered items like alcohol, bakery products, beauty care items, beverages, dairy products, frozen food, fruits, household essentials, office supplies, and seafood.
The future trends to consider for entrepreneurs while establishing an app like Instacart are
- Apart from setting up warehouses, entrepreneurs have to invest in state-of-the-art cold storage facilities with automatic temperature control options. They are needed as customers have started ordering in bulk for several months beforehand in anticipation of lockdowns and travel restrictions issued by the governments.
- Focussing more on offering frozen food and readily prepared meals to the shoppers.
- Setting up fulfilment centres near populated areas for ensuring faster order processing.
- Offering a convenient shopping experience for the users by introducing a tailor-made debit card that is embedded with cashback and reward offers.
- Enhancing operational efficiency by integrating advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data analytics, Drones, Machine Learning (ML), and Robotics.
Final Thoughts
The American online grocery delivery industry will cross a revenue of $112.9 billion in 2021 and further reach $187.7 billion in 2024. Hence, the entrepreneurs can be optimistic about the success of Instacart clone app development in the market.
Incentives and offers attract customers to purchase products repeatedly from an app like Instacart resulting in huge sales for the retailers on the platform. The entrepreneurs can achieve all their business objectives effectively over a period. They can join hands with a well-versed app development company that will provide feasible online grocery delivery solutions for making a huge impact in the industry.
