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| Bets on the UK's online grocery boom |
The UK supermarket industry worth billions of pounds is betting on whether older shoppers will continue to buy groceries online after the lockdown ends.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, the online grocery industry has doubled, accounting for 16% of the grocery retail market to around 200 billion pounds (281 billion US dollars).
The United Kingdom is one of the most popular online shopping countries in the world.
Many analysts assume that the pre-Coronavirus grocery shopping penetration rate will not return to the 7% level, but will be much lower than the current 16% in the context of the crisis.
As shoppers shop more and avoid the additional transportation and logistics costs, there is speculation about whether online sales can be as profitable as in-store purchases.
Older shoppers have fueled the rapid growth of the UK internet industry. Research firm Kantar found that the shutdown increased online grocery spending for retired families by 229% year-on-year in January.
Skeptics say traditional British supermarket conglomerates are trying to balance their online earnings with those of in-store purchases.
"Traditional supermarket groups can tell you that they are making money on the Internet, whether or not they are making money, they earn less than going to the supermarket," Kantar said.
Large chain stores have the ability to reduce demand by restricting delivery times and increasing delivery costs after loosening social distancing rules, and they can attract more shoppers to the store.
Some people in the industry say it's wrong to watch racing online to broadcast newspapers, videos and music.
Some critics compare it to the space races of the 1990s and 2000s, when more supermarkets were established there than ever before.
When the shoppers leave the supermarket outside the city, this situation gradually disappears and the supermarket realizes that it cannot make a profit by selling large products (such as furniture).
Some people say that contact between people and stores is the huge investment in digital capacity of supermarkets that has paid only a small percentage of shoppers to shop online until the online store arrives.
For the UK's Big Four supermarkets, the increased acquisitions improved the internet economy, but continued to affect profits.
"At least in the short term, the demand for food online is expected to decrease," Kantar said.
"Supermarket groups face a dilemma because they do not want to lose market share," she added. If they do not have enough products online or at reasonable prices, it can take competitors' losses. On the other hand, they prefer people to leave. . Business.