These days everyone seems to be short of time and is looking for a quick fix for almost everything we do. Being able to do everything online helps us manage every aspect of our busy lives and saves time and money. That’s why so many of us carry our Smartphones with us from the moment we wake up to the last second we go to sleep. Businesses need to evolve to keep up with our changing demands. In particular, bricks and mortar shops need to do more to keep customers coming to them over the online giants. Is the traditional supermarket at risk now too? Most of us really don’t like going food shopping, it can take hours, and often causes arguments in couples and families! So, it’s no wonder that more of us are choosing to take our grocery shopping online too. Independent supermarket owners need to take note, and adapt to this trend, and one of the best ways to give your customers what they need is to have your own online grocery shopping app.

Here are some of the advantages to the consumer that will keep them coming back to your grocery delivery app:  

1) Bulk buy heavy items without the heavy lifting

Most Nigerian foreign residents don’t own a car, we’re more of a scooter nation and also like to travel on foot. This can make it tricky to do a “big shop” or buy heavy items like tins and bottles in one go. Getting items delivered to their door will mean that your customers are likely to spend more with you and stock up because they can buy whatever they like without having to think about how they’re going to carry it home.

2) Eliminate parking stress and save money on gas

We all know Nigeria especially Lagos, Abuja & Port Harcourt can be a tricky place to find parking! If you don’t have a large car park attached to your supermarket you might find you’re losing customers when the car park is full, and they just drive on by to somewhere else. Having your app will keep loyal customers coming to you, and they’ll probably enjoy shopping from the comfort of their sofa and saving money on gas too.

3) Save hours and arguments

As mentioned above one of the most common places for couples and families to argue is the supermarket! Cut out the hassle of having to take the kids along or disagreeing over what to buy for dinner. Your customers can get what they need in a few clicks in the privacy of their own phone.

4) No more queuing 

Customers in a rush don’t like queuing and they might even dump their basket if they have to wait too long, especially if they’re on a lunch break or desperate to get home for dinner. Less queues at your tills also saves on staff costs.

5) Be open 24 hours a day

The good thing about an app is that it’s available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You could be bringing in business even when you’re shut. This is really convenient for your customers too, because they can carry out their shopping at times when they need something to keep them occupied like when they’re commuting or struggling to get to sleep.

6) Customers can take their time over shopping

Some customers like to shop at a leisurely pace, and having an app allows them to do as much browsing as they need to, to find the perfect product and look for new things they might not normally buy. It takes away the pressure of being in a busy crowded space and it’s likely they’ll spend more as they won’t have the feeling of needing to rush around.

7) Save the list and save time

Another time saving aspect of an online grocery delivery app is the ability to save a shopping list and simply re-order the products in one click. This means customers never forget their favourite products, don’t need to spend time writing and list and save time from not having to pick everything out again.

8) Customers can receive reminders and discounts via push notifications

Customers will love it if you remind them about special offers on their favourite products, or let them know when a new flavour of their favourite snack is launched, or if you just send them out a discount code to save a little money here and there. You can reach them straight from the front screen of their phone.

At Fortran House, we’ve worked with very many different retailers including supermarkets, and we have our finger on the pulse of the latest technology available in app development to help increase customer loyalty, increase your business revenue and improve customer experiences. We are happy to give you a demo of some apps we’ve created so that you can see what’s possible for yourself. We can discuss your business needs and create a bespoke quotation for you and your supermarket business