Technology is having a profound impact on so many sectors, creating opportunities, speeding up development and leveling the playing field so that leading companies can no longer take success for granted. It is an incredibly exciting time for innovation across the sector. (Videos)
Amazon, Trader Joe’s, and Wal-Mart are, at least experimenting with grocery delivery.
From an economic prospective, the grocery business is loaded with friction. Once a week or more, shoppers must drive to stores, traipse through aisles hunting for what they want, and stand in lines — a gigantic, continual waste of time, patience, and gasoline. Grocers, which stand between food producers and consumers, must maintain chains of stores dotted across a geographical region or across the country, and each store must be serviced by a complex logistical and transportation infrastructure. If any industry is ripe for disruption by online shopping, it should be the grocery business.