Table of Contents
Executive Summary
-
- Impact of COVID-19 on fresh grocery retailing
-
- Figure 1: Short, medium and long-term impact of COVID-19 on fresh grocery retailing, June 2020
- The market
- China’s fresh grocery retailing market continues steady growth
- The element of convenience continues to reshape market development
- Companies and brands
- Increasing online penetration leads to better online and offline integration
- The consumer
- Offline channels still dominate in fresh vegetables and fresh meat
-
- Figure 2: Purchasing channels for fresh grocery, May 2020
- Price is not the most important while shopping fresh groceries online
-
- Figure 3: Online purchase journey, May 2020
- Freshness is the key to retain consumers in offline market
-
- Figure 4: Factors for purchasing in physical stores, 2019 vs 2020
- Private label is popular
-
- Figure 5: Consumer’s attitude toward private label products, May 2020
- Freshness important to online fresh grocery retailers
-
- Figure 6: Area of improvement for fresh grocery online retailers, May 2020
- Pragmatist is key consumer group
-
- Figure 7: Cluster analysis, May 2020
- What we think
Issues and Insights
-
- Supply chain matters to fresh grocery retailers’ long-term performance
- The facts
- The implications
- Opportunity in community fresh grocery retailing
- The facts
- The implications
- Private label fresh grocery is promising for market growth
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
-
- Lifestyle pursuit pushes market growth
- Convenience is an important concept for fresh grocery buyers
- New business infrastructure is expediting industry competition
Market Size and Forecast
-
- Lifestyle pursuit and rising family spend drive market growth
-
- Figure 8: Retail sales of China fresh grocery retailing, 2015-20
- Figure 9: Total China retail sales and forecast of fresh grocery retailing, at current prices, 2015-25
Market Drivers
-
- COVID-19 cultivating habits of online fresh grocery shopping
- Supply chain innovation is fuelling market progress
-
- Figure 10: Area of improvement for fresh grocery online retailers, May 2020
- Community stores lift fresh grocery retailing to next stage
-
- Figure 11: Factors for purchasing fresh grocery in physical stores, May 2020
- Integration of offline and online enhanced consumer experience
-
- Figure 12: Those who agree versus those who disagree on selected consumer’s attitudes toward private label products, by household income, May 2020
Key Players – What You Need to Know
-
- Yonghui is getting closer to home
- Hema Fresh’s branding and omnichannel strategy
- MissFresh is leading the online fresh grocery retailing market
Performance of Top Players
-
- Yonghui
- Hema Fresh
- MissFresh
Market Segmentation
-
- Online fresh grocery retailing is growing with more importance
-
- Figure 13: Retail value of online fresh grocery versus offline grocery purchase, 2014-20
Competitive Strategies
-
- Invest in supply chain for long-run competition
- Closer to consumers
- Branding is paying off as companies expand horizontally
Who’s Innovating?
-
- Non-touch fresh grocery shopping experience in gas stations
-
- Figure 14: Easy Joy’s non-touch fresh grocery purchase service, February 2020
- Rapid expansion through the store partner
-
- Figure 15: Storefront of Yipin Shengxian, November 2019
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
-
- Offline stores are still top destination for fresh vegetable and meat
- Pricing is not the top concern for online fresh grocery shopping
- Freshness is the top factors to retain consumers offline
- Shopping for private label products prevails
- Online retailers are still dealing with freshness issues
Purchase Channel
-
- Offline channels still dominate in fresh vegetables and fresh meat
-
- Figure 16: Purchasing channels for fresh grocery, May 2020
- COVID-19 accelerates the growth of fresh grocery vertical ecommerce
-
- Figure 17: Consumers who purchase fresh grocery ecommerce for fresh vegetables and fruits, by household income and education, May 2020
- Seafood has the highest channel loyalty while fresh vegetables has the lowest
-
- Figure 18: Average mentions of channels for fresh grocery retailing, May 2020
- Fruit buyers in lower tier cities are more favourable of traditional channels
-
- Figure 19: Selected channels for fresh fruit buyers, by city tiers, 2019 vs 2020
- Younger consumers prefer various products and one-stop shopping
-
- Figure 20: Average percentage of consumers visiting channels, by generations, May 2020
Online Purchase Journey
-
- Price not first when shopping fresh groceries online
-
- Figure 21: Online purchase journey, May 2020
- Parents and high-income consumers care more on details of product
-
- Figure 22: Selected online purchase journey, by monthly personal income, May 2020
- Impulsive to purchase more for promotion
-
- Figure 23: Online purchase journey, May 2020
- Promotions appeal to females and older consumers
-
- Figure 24: Promotion-related online activity, by selected demographics, China, May 2020
Factors for purchasing in physical stores
-
- Freshness and shopping experience are key to retain consumers in the offline market
-
- Figure 25: Factors for purchasing in physical stores, May 2020
- Increase user base in older generation
-
- Figure 26: Selected factors to purchase fresh grocery offline, May 2020
- In-store cooking service gets popular for females
-
- Figure 27: Selected demographics to purchase fresh groceries at offline stores, May 2020
Attitude towards Private Label
-
- Private label is becoming more popular
-
- Figure 28: Consumer’s attitude toward private label products, May 2020
- Higher-income consumers embrace private label brands
-
- Figure 29: Those who agree versus who disagree on selected consumer’s attitude toward private label products, by household income. May 2020
- Opportunity in lower-tier market
-
- Figure 30: Selected consumer’s attitude toward private label products, by city tiers, May 2020
- Invest in younger consumers for branding private label
-
- Figure 31: Selected attitude statement towards private label, May 2020
Area of improvement for online retailers
-
- Product freshness vitals to online fresh grocery retailers
-
- Figure 32: Area of improvement for fresh grocery online retailers, May 2020
- Last mile delivery secures both product freshness and consumers’ satisfaction
-
- Figure 33: Selected area of improvement for online retailers, by monthly household incomes, May 2020
- Younger demographics care about the service provided
-
- Figure 34: Selected area of improvement for fresh grocery online retailers, by age, May 2020
- Older generation loyalty needs to build up
-
- Figure 35: Area of improvements online retailers should make, May 2020
Consumer Segmentation Analysis
-
- Pragmatist is a major consumer group
-
- Figure 36: Cluster analysis, May 2020
- Pragmatist are least loyal to channels
-
- Figure 37: Channel frequency for three consumer groups, May 2020
-
- Figure 38: Selected channels for three consumer groups, May 2020
- Premium Lifestylers are knowledge-driven
-
- Figure 39: Selected online purchase journey, by consumer groups, May 2020
- Pragmatists are more into in-store experiences
-
- Figure 40: Selected offline purchase drivers, by consumer groups, May 2020
Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
-
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
Back to top