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As the grocery industry continues to benefit by using technology to provide a more connected and seamless online and in-store experience, examining how each store department fits into that equation remains top of mind. For many departments that prepare fresh foods, such as the Bakery, the systems in place are still heavily manual, not able to integrate with other store systems and lack interdepartmental communication abilities.
According to FMI’s The State of Fresh Foods, 2022 report, in-store bakeries accounted for 3% of total food retailer sales, equating to $15B in 2021. Of that $15B, only 6% came from online sales. That’s 94% of bakery sales left on the table for potential online conversion. But how do grocery retailers go about bringing their bakery counter online? Continue reading to learn how.
Many customers are looking for affordability, a product they trust and convenience when shopping for a custom cake for many types of celebrations. Many grocery retailers already offer this service, but don’t have the right tools to manage the complex process of customers ordering a custom cake online. With purpose-built software such as FoodStorm, grocers can deliver this online ordering experience to consumers, while providing their in-store teams the order management tools needed to produce and fulfill these orders.
From fresh bread to seasonal treats, and daily donuts to flagship cookies, the bakery section is having a moment in modern grocery shopping. These items that are produced on a regular, recurring schedule provide a well of catalog items to bring online. By enabling ordering ahead for these items, grocers can increase sales due to visibility, reduce in-store preparation pressure and more accurately know how many items to produce to reduce waste.
If a grocery retailer already offers holiday catering services, chances are pies and holiday desserts are part of those menus. Adding these items to a retailer’s e-commerce website and implementing department-specific technology for their in-store teams can turn a notoriously hectic holiday period into a seamless, über efficient experience for both employees and customers.
By opting to partner with a technology company focused on empowering the grocery industry, retailers can expect these solutions to offer impactful and practical features. With FoodStorm, grocery retailers can be confident that selling, managing, producing and fulfilling their made-to-order items, such as custom cakes, can be done intuitively and effectively by their teams. With features to support all customization options, such as cake size, icing, cake flavor, even custom inscriptions, FoodStorm makes a once complex process extremely simple.
Using technology within a department doesn’t provide much holistic benefit if that technology doesn’t communicate with other parts of the store. That’s why FoodStorm offers its Department Orders functionality, allowing retailers to set up department-specific views within the system so the Bakery sees their orders, the Deli sees theirs, and live updates are provided on a Kitchen Display System for cross-departmental order collaboration.
By bringing more of your bakery assortment online, you open up these items for additional consideration by your online customers. Whether through a retailer’s general e-commerce website or through FoodStorm’s prepared foods-specific storefront, enabling online ordering is crucial. By using FoodStorm’s prepared foods-specific storefront, retailers enjoy features such as self-controlled live menu updates, quantity limits, and even store-specific rules for retailers with multiple locations.
As the labor shortage continues, many retailers are looking for ways to bridge the gap while ensuring their customer experience is not impacted. Deploying an in-store kiosk in the bakery section can help with many consumers becoming well acquainted with this technology after the COVID pandemic. FoodStorm offers a kiosk version of the prepared foods-specific storefront, allows in-store customers to view your Bakery menu, build custom items, place their orders and even pay via attached payment terminal. And the best part is retailers can have multiple kiosks in the same store, each showing specific menus if desired.
With so much potential for enabling ordering ahead for a retailer’s bakery selection, exploring what solutions and partners are on offer could benefit any grocery business. FoodStorm has spent over 15 years researching and developing software built for grocery prepared foods, and can meet any grocery business wherever they are in their foodservice journey.
