Groc_Friend: An Online Grocery Application

Who Shops Groceries Where And How?

Market problem

The e-commerce industry has not taken the Australian food retail market by storm and therefore, it has become comparatively important for the different entrepreneurs to take an opportunity of this and come out with an idea which will benefit the different consumers and allow the idea generator to earn a large amount of profits (Anantadjaya, 2013). The report will be outlining one such idea of a grocery application which will allow the consumers to view the different grocery items being offered by the different supermarkets and allow them to make purchases based on the cheapest offers as well as the stores nearest to the customer. Free delivery among a designated checkout purchase will also be allowed. Hence, in lieu of this, the market problem will be discussed which will then be followed by the benefits of the business idea to the customers. Moreover, the proposed business model and the critical success factors with respect to the idea will also be identified. This shall be followed by the feasibility plan which shall assess whether the idea will be successful or not.

The Australian grocery market is highly competitive in nature. There exists a presence of various grocery retail stores in the country where cut throat competition exists and they continuously engage in price wars which makes the situation very difficult for the different consumers as they tend to get confused as to which retail store they need to purchase their product from. Moreover, as the working population of Australia has been increasing due to the expansion of various multinational companies and diverse workforce, more expatriates have been coming to Australia to settle down (Boons & Lüdeke-Freund, 2013). These expatriates have a tight work schedule whereby they cannot take out time to visit the different grocery stores to fulfill their daily shopping needs. Management, they also do not get adequate time to visit these stores and understand which stores are offering the most discount and the best products. Hence, the given app Groc_Friend will provide the different consumers with adequate information about the different grocery retail stores which are the closest to them and also help them to make orders directly from the application (Brigham & Houston, 2013).  As the life of the consumers have become quite hectic in nature, this application will be assisting the different consumers and helping them to ensure that they are being able to have an access to the best product quality, with the best product prices and the best offers. Moreover, as the different expatriates are new to the country, this will also save them from any fraudulent activities which might take place.

Benefits of the business idea

Along with the popular supermarkets, different local stores can also offer their goods on the application and thereby ensure that the customers are presented with a wide number of options (Zott, Amit & Massa, 2011). This way the grocery stores will just be a click away for the consumers and they can make use of the application available on Android as well iOS domains in order to ensure that fresh grocery is being delivered at their doorsteps.

The benefits of the Groc_Friend application will be as follows:

1. Shopping convenience: The Groc_Friend application will allow the different consumers to ensure that the have convenience while making the different purchases. This is because the orders can be easily made through the online application without actually having to visit the stores. This saves the time as well as money of the different shoppers (Chan, He & Wang, 2013). Moreover, it also helps them to shop as per their needs and not rely solely on fast foods.
2. Good offers: The application provides good offers to the different consumers. Due to the high cut throat competition which is present in the business environment, the different retail stores tend to come up with various offers which can be availed through the application by the different customers (Nilsson et al., 2015). These offers will allow the different customers to save considerable costs and get the same product at the best price available.
3. Unified approach: The different customers will have an access to the different stores on the same application. In this manner, the customers will be able to check out all the offers available in a single domain which will then permit the best product purchase at the best price which is available.
4. Easy delivery: The customers will be able to have an access to an easy delivery option which shall allow the customers to get the products which they have purchased, delivered to the convenience of their homes.
5. Avoidance of long queues: Moreover, with the help of this, they will not be required to waste long hours in the queues (Christensen et al., 2016). This shall save time as well as energy.
6. Equal Opportunity to the sellers as well: Additionally, the application will also allow the different sellers an opportunity to sell on equal grounds to the different consumers (Chwolka & Raith, 2013).
7. Rising opportunity for local stores as well: Lastly, as the application will also be a platform for the different local stores to sell their products, this will serve as a rising opportunity for the different local shops as well and allow them to compete with the international brands.

The proposed business model shall be identified and formulated based on the use of the Business canvas model. The business canvas model shall allow the understanding of the different aspects which the Groc_Friend business will be allowed to consider before going ahead with the business idea.

The first aspect which has to be considered by them is the Key partners of the business. In the given scenario, the key partners of the business shall be the App developer and the delivery partners of the organization, the delivery partners form a key aspect of the firm as they will assist the business in carrying out its basic operations (Arnold, 2013).  Next, the key activities of the application will involve advertising of the products as given by the different stores, delivering the products being ordered to the different consumers, ensuring that it carries out marketing on behalf of the different consumers and making shopping easier.

The channel which will be used by the application is the online channel. The application will be only taking orders online and in addition to this, it will be delivering the products to the different consumers physically at their homes though their delivery partner. Moreover, the key resources of the organization comprise of its application, human resources, and contacts with the different retailers and the registered office in Melbourne.

The value proposition which the application aims to offer to the different employees are products to the convenience of their homes, good offers, good prices and free delivery offers (Osterwalder et al., 2014).  To maintain this value proposition the online application will be maintaining healthy relationships with the customers with the help of social media marketing and telephone customer service.

The different customer segments which the firm aims to target are the different individuals and expatriates who do not get adequate time to purchase the products online (Armstrong et al., 2015). Moreover, it will also be catering to the needs of those customers who do not get time to make purchases online.

Proposed business model

The app will be earning through subscription fees from customers and stores alike along with a commission structure. Moreover the cost structure of the firm from its marketing, application development and delivery costs. 

Critical success factors can be essentially described as those factors the occurrence of which is necessary to carry out a business plan successfully. The critical success factors which are essential for the achievement of the idea and the execution have been stated as follows:

Good delivery partners: The organization needs good delivery partners in order to ensure that the idea is successful. Ordering online business can only be successful in a scenario whereby the delivery will be done online. Moreover, if the delivery is not made on time, it may bring about a bad name to the organization.

IT Development: Moreover, another success factor in consideration of the online grocery application is that there needs to be an application which is user friendly in nature with less complexity (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). If the application is very complex in nature then, the users will not be able to make use of it and this will ultimately lead to a failure on the side of the company. Hence, to ensure success the company needs to ensure that they have an access to an application which functions adequately and is user friendly as well.

Availability of adequate funds: During the execution of the idea, the funds hold the utmost importance and for this purpose, the business needs to ensure that it has an access to a large funding source (Mullins, Walker & Boyd Jr, 2013). In this manner, they will be successfully able to ensure that whenever there arises a need, they are being able to meet with it successfully and moreover, they also ensure that none of their objectives are deviated from.

Aligning of the goals with metrics: the Groc_Friend has an objective of achieving maximum success with respect to the maximum downloads and in order to ensure that the firm is successful in this aspect, it needs to design certain metrics against which the firm will be measuring the success of its goals and objectives (Webalive.com.au., 2018).

Engaging in analysis prior to execution: analysis which needs to be performed prior to the execution is very important and crucial as this helps in understanding whether the business will be successful in its operations or not.

Agreement from the stores: Moreover, in order to be successful in this domain, the online app needs to ensure that it has adequate assistance from the stores who will be actually responsible for the purchasing of the items. If the stores fail to cooperate with the app, the idea would not be successful.

Critical Success Factors to be considered

Testing the feasibility of an idea helps the business enterprise to understand the fact whether the business will be able to gain success in the long run or not. The feasibility tests can be conducted by the organization with the help of various aspects (Baden-Fuller & Haefliger, 2013). These domains with respect to which the feasibility of the business idea can be tested are as follows:

The Groc_Friend would be required to evaluate whether there exists any other business which allows the same (Johnson, Christensen & Kagermann, 2008). Although various stores like Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have online applications and now with the advent of Amazon, shopping has become comparatively easier for the different companies, however, Groc_Friend provides a single solution for all the stores which is unique.

The customer base which is being catered to comprise of the expatriates who have recently shifted to Australia and do not get time to shop physically and hence, this application will be a boon for them, Moreover, the e-commerce trends must be increasing considerably and hence, the idea is suitable.

Moreover, Groc_Friend has an access to a variety of resources which will make it useful for them to invest in this segment.

Growth potential of the business

The e-commerce in Australia has been expanding considerably and moreover in 2017, the Australians spent a total of $1.95 billion every month on shopping (Statista.com ., 2018). The annual growth rate of the market is 6% which is fairly adequate.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the given analysis it can be stated that Groc_Friend`s idea of the online application is considerably unique and feasible. The different analysis done in this section with respect to the business model and other domains, given an idea that in the long run of the enterprise, if all the planning is executed well, the idea will be a success in Australia.

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