Whether out of convenience or necessity, the past few years have seen a spike in the number of people opting for the online shopping cart instead of the in-store trolley when doing their weekly grocery shop.
Despite this growing trend, a research collaboration between the University of New England (UNE) and a colleague at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revealed many consumers are still wary of the final product that ends up on their doorstep – especially when it comes to perishable foods like fresh beef.
“Globally, online food sales have increased dramatically in recent years, as government restrictions and perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 deterred consumers from in-person shopping,” says Dr L. Emilio Morales from the UNE Business School, who led the research alongside Professor Mariah Ehmke from USDA and UNE Emeritus Professor Alison Sheridan.
“However, through our research, it’s become evident that consumers’ perceptions about quality and safety uncertainty, and the inability to inspect perishable food items bought online, affect their level of trust, limiting fresh food grocery online purchases compared to other online sales.”
To help producers expand their potential markets and increase sales, the research team has developed several strategies that could be implemented by retailers to address the current qualms.
By building trust, businesses would have more opportunity to grow and compete with larger retailers, which would greatly benefit local economies and help to boost regional resilience.
To do this, a group of regular beef-eaters living in the United States were surveyed to gauge current attitudes towards buying fresh beef online. This revealed that while some had bought groceries online, none had ever purchased fresh beef.
Many of the respondents said this was due to the inability to judge the product’s quality, while one person said they simply did not trust it.
“This data highlights the current distrust, and helps identify what needs to be done to alleviate this,” says Dr Morales.
“We recommend companies and producers start providing detailed quality assurance and certifications, more product information, such as where the meat came from, and developing reliable delivery services and packaging.
“It would also be beneficial to embrace new technologies that allow consumers to inspect fresh items visually online to reduce their perceived risk of quality uncertainty.”
The researchers say the implementation of these recommendations would have significant benefits to the fresh food industry as a whole, which would flow into local economies.
“By selling produce online, there will be more opportunities for local farmers to differentiate their products and receive premium prices based on the origin, feeding, and other practices related to safety and animal welfare, among other aspects included in quality certifications,” says Dr Morales.
“By building trust, businesses would have more opportunity to grow and compete with larger retailers, which would greatly benefit local economies and help to boost regional resilience.”
The full study has been published in the Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing, and can be read here.
