From persuading people not to panic-buy to ensuring shoppers and staff are safe, supermarkets have had to overcome some Herculean challenges following the onset of coronavirus.
- Grocers are trialling innovative measures to reduce contact while paying, from QR codes to facial scanning
- No-contact delivery methods are being rolled out across the world, including robot delivery in China
- From Aldi to Coles, supermarkets are moving swiftly to hire out-of-work restaurant staff
UK grocers have stepped up to the plate. We’ve had product rationing, special shopping hours for elderly and vulnerable shoppers and NHS workers, measures to enforce social distancing, such as floor markings, and extra protection for staff.
But here Retail Week looks at innovative ways that supermarkets around the world have reacted to coronavirus to make sure customers are fed.
Contactless payment – from QR codes to facial payments
At a time when people are advised to avoid social contact, contactless payment is crucial. From the start of this month, shoppers in the UK were able to spend up to £45 on contactless card transactions, compared with £30 previously.
“Russian supermarkets have begun testing facial payments to reduce the spread of the virus while paying”
Latin American retailer Mercado Pago has been encouraging shoppers to purchase using QR codes in its pharmacies to reduce the use of cash.
Last week, it offered a 15% discount for shoppers using this payment method.
Russian supermarkets have begun testing facial payments in order to reduce the spread of the virus while paying for goods.
Lenta is piloting facial scanning, although the payment method is at present only available to VTB Bank customers. A spokesperson for the bank told Russian publication Izvestia that a mass roll-out is planned for mid-2020.
Essential food parcels
French grocer Carrefour has rolled out an online service taking essential products to shoppers’ doorsteps using no-contact delivery.
The grocer has created eight boxes, which have been tailored for specific diets or people. For example, there are ‘Veggie’, ‘Sea’ and ‘Earth’ boxes (the latter contains products such as cassoulet and duck confit), along with selections for children and pet boxes for cats and dogs.
The boxes are delivered free of charge and shoppers can sign up to a weekly subscription.
The offer has a dedicated website – essentiels.carrefour.fr – designed to reduce the high level of shoppers on Carrefour’s standard website. It also makes life easier for warehouse workers who have to fulfil a limited selection of products.
UK grocers Morrisons and Marks & Spencer have launched similar products. Morrisons introduced its next-day delivery food box last week, allowing shoppers to buy either a vegetarian or meat box containing £30 worth of food. The customer is charged £5 for doorstep delivery.
M&S launched its offer this week “to help customers get the products they need and support those who aren’t able to easily visit stores during this unprecedented time”. The box, which includes pasta, sauce and coffee – and Percy Pigs – costs £35 plus £3.99 delivery.
Contactless delivery – from doorstep drop-offs to robots
Contactless delivery of products ordered online has become ubiquitous since the onset of coronavirus, with many Chinese businesses adopting the approach when their country was in its throes.
Fast food businesses pioneered the practice in China. McDonald’s packages were delivered to building entrances by drivers carrying ID cards, which verified that they and the people making their food had had their body temperature scanned to prove they did not have a fever, Reuters reported.
“Online giant JD.com used robots to deliver food to customers in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus”
Contactless delivery has since spread across the world and businesses such as Deliveroo and Just Eat, as well as supermarkets, all now offer the service.
However, tech-savvy companies in China have taken contactless delivery one step further than simply leaving a bag on the doorstep. Online giant JD.com, for instance, used robots to deliver food to customers in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus.
JD.com had been operating delivery robots in some Chinese cities from January 2019, but they were only used to transport small and medium-sized packages. The devices were altered to allow larger deliveries in Wuhan, where they carried medical supplies and food.
Upon the robot’s arrival at its delivery address, customers are sent a collection code, which they use to release the package.
Drive-thru services
Click-and-collect and drive-thru services have come to the fore over the past month as retailers give shoppers more options to avoid busy stores.
In the US, Kroger is testing a pick-up-only store in Cincinnati, Ohio. In-store shopping is no longer available at the trial store, launched last week, and workers devote their time to fulfilling online grocery orders for collection.
Other retailers are going one step further with their click-and-collect offers. Spanish department store group El Corte Inglés has been pushing its Click & Car service as a way for customers to pick up purchases without physical contact.
Shoppers buy items online and collect them in a specified time-slot at the store car park.
The customer parks in a dedicated area and the purchase is simply placed in the car boot by a store assistant.
El Corte Inglés’ Click & Car service is not new, but the group has opted to promote it now as coronavirus forces people to minimise physical contact.
US health and beauty giant Walgreens, owner of Boots in the UK, has also expanded drive-thru shopping in an effort to promote social distancing.
The retailer has widened the assortment of products available using its drive-thru service from prescriptions to selected household essentials, such as cleaning supplies, sanitisers, baby products and first-aid supplies.
Pop-up distribution centres
To help meet the unprecedented demand that coronavirus has brought to its supermarkets, Australian retailer Coles has opened three pop-up distribution centres in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. More are on the way.
Coles is focused on boosting the supply of essential products, such as toilet rolls, which are being moved direct from suppliers to the pop-up distribution centre as fast as possible.
The grocer is working with employers and unions to quickly hire people who have recently lost their jobs as a result of coronavirus for both these warehouses and stores.
It has fast-tracked applications sent by companies such as Virgin Australia and has hired 7,000 people over the past two weeks.
Hiring alliances
Coles is not the only grocer that has formed alliances to employ those that are temporarily out of work following business closures during the coronavirus outbreak.
In Germany, Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord have signed an agreement with McDonald’s, which has closed restaurants in the country, to refer workers for roles in their supermarkets.
“Everyone in Germany is asked to do their part to cope with the crisis. With this solution, we can offer a classic win-win situation: our employees can – if they want – be kept employed”
Holger Beeck, McDonald’s
The McDonald’s employees work for Aldi on a temporary basis and can return to the fast-food giant after the assignment.
McDonald’s Germany chief executive Holger Beeck said: “Everyone in Germany is currently asked to do their part to cope with the crisis. With this solution, we can do that and, at the same time, offer a classic win-win situation: our employees can – if they want – be kept employed.
“At the same time, Aldi benefits from additional resources. And this ensures for the company in Germany that Aldi can act fully even during the crisis.”
Similarly, Russia’s largest supermarket business Magnit has teamed up with KFC to temporarily employ 1,150 of its staff in stores as it seeks to keep up with heightened demand.
Group buying via WeChat app
Demand for group purchases of food rocketed in China during the coronavirus lockdown.
People used Tencent’s WeChat, China’s most popular social media and messaging app, to club together with residents in their buildings or neighbourhoods to group-buy products such as meat, vegetables and milk.
Some supermarkets were unable to fulfil smaller orders, so the group-buying option made sure that those only purchasing for themselves were able to access products. Bigger retailers had their own mini-apps inside WeChat.
As the coronavirus crisis continues to unfold, no doubt there will be many more retail innovations to come.
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