Food delivery services from local stores or fresh food to go - Snappy Shopper from the UK and Valora both offer customers maximum convenience. They achieve this by ensuring proximity to them. Snappy Shopper has created streamlined, smooth customer journeys: products are conveniently ordered via the platform and delivered right to the doorstep. And they are produced by local companies. Valora is present where customers are found: at railway stations, petrol stations and in city centres, it provides fresh products on the go from various types of outlet.
How does Valora achieve proximity to customers amidst the hustle and bustle of life?
Michael Mueller: Valora is present where people are on the move - at train stations, commuter hotspots, in city centres and at petrol stations. Proximity is a key element in our business: our outlets are located when customers want to shop quickly and efficiently and are looking for dependability. Our range specifically caters to the needs of people on the move - closeby, practical and fresh. This combination of presence and relevance creates genuine affinity.
How does Snappy Shopper strengthen digital relationships with customers?
Dan Calvert: Defined, ‘relationship’ denotes a connection between people, characterised by association, shared attributes or experience. Therefore, strengthening customer relationships ‘digitally’ or through technology of any kind should to me be relatable to a pre-existing or equivalent relationship ‘in real life’. I see our role as a technology partner at Snappy Shopper as the provisioning of tools and guidance to retailers to achieve this, as we recognise that more often than not - ‘in real life’ - the customer relationship is primarily with the retailer, not the marketplace.
Therefore, what it often comes down to is embracing technology that adds value through its utility, like home delivery. Though at the same time, retaining or even reinforcing what already exists and is inherently good in the relationship. I fear often that technology might create barriers, instead of connections. Turning a relationship into a transaction. Sanitising the local specialities, anonymising the faces of retail in the community and attempting to create digital proximity to replace the emotional.
The answer? In the context of home delivery, examples exist in prioritising local product range, enabling personality to shine through in the design of the user interface or digital marketing, encouraging direct human-to-human contact through phone or chat, and tapping into online representations of communities through social media. However, it starts with a mindset or philosophy, not just a list of solutions.
What added value is Valora creating to build customer loyalty?
Michael Mueller: Customer loyalty is a key success factor in the to-go business. Footfall is high and decision-making time short - which is why it's so vital that we build trust and recognition by providing clear added value. We focus heavily on ensuring our food-to-go products offer uncompromising freshness and real quality. This approach is underpinned by simple, fast digital shopping processes - from selection to payment.
Michael Mueller has been CEO of the Valora Group since 2014 and has successfully established the company as a leading foodvenience provider in Europe. He also oversees the European retail operations of FEMSA, a globally active retail group headquartered in Mexico.
How important are local stores to Snappy Shopper customers?
Dan Calvert: Snappy Shopper makes two promises, delivery in 30-60 minutes and local store to door. Therefore, local means everything to us. On Snappy Shopper the majority of deliveries originate from within 2 to 3 kilometres from the physical store, and we only operate with stores that have a physical shopfront. Establishing these principles creates trust through familiarity and exclusion of the anonymity of dark stores. As such, we champion this through policies and decisions such as highlighting of local products, in-store price matching, transparent fees, and a cost structure that is sustainable for the retailers. We aspire to be a leader in change and adoption of technology by consumers and retailers alike, and are convicted that this is only achieved by values and decisions that create and foster trust.
Daniel Calvert is Chief Growth Officer at Snappy Shopper. The Scottish company connects local retailers with their customers through a digital ordering platform and home delivery. Daniel Calvert has extensive experience in fast convenience solutions from various positions at global tech companies such as Google and Uber Eats.
What are the greatest challenges facing the industry right now and how are you tackling them?
Michael Mueller: More than ever before, customers today expect freshness, quality and sustainability - combined with proximity and convenience. Costs are rising too, particularly due to higher rents and wages, which makes achieving profitable margins all the more important. We are addressing this challenge through our foodvenience strategy - the targeted expansion of our range of fresh food-to-go products in our convenience formats. Our extensive expertise and experience with our various retail and food service formats is a tremendous advantage. This combination enables us to develop innovative, customer-led concepts and to bring them to market quickly.
Daniel Calvert: Selecting the right retailers at the right time is our greatest challenge at Snappy Shopper. We are a managed marketplace, which means we take an active role in evaluating and setting a high standard for retailers seeking to join. In a world of finite time and resources, we prioritise those who share our beliefs, have a strong standing in their community, a desire to serve and willingness to adopt new technology – thereby preserving trust amidst marketplace competition. It’s far from easy turning away those who we believe are not ready yet. It can feel commercially counterintuitive to do so, especially in an industry of intense competition. Though we do it with the greatest of intentions, believing that only the right store at the right time will contribute and achieve the desired outcome on the marketplace. Reassuringly, we see it in our data, and with that grow increasingly in our belief and conviction of our values and model alike. For those who are ‘not quite there yet’, we are embarking on educational programs or broadening our range of services to help ready more and more retailers for the adoption of q-commerce technology.
To be continued – live at the GDI
How can digital proximity and local affinity be combined even more successfully in future? What role does trust play in the age of Q-commerce? Michael Mueller and Daniel Calvert will explore these issues in greater depth as speakers at the GDI’s International Retail Summit in Rüschlikon. At an event entitled ‘Nearconomy: Trust Beyond Transactions’, thought leaders and industry experts will explore how retailers can build closer relationships with their customers physically, digitally and emotionally - thereby creating ‘trust beyond transactions’.