Amazon: Furthering its reach into grocery delivery

Amazon now has same-day fresh grocery delivery in over 1000 US cities with plans to expand to 2,300 by the end of the year. This isn’t limited to just groceries, as they combine the general goods into a single same-day delivery. This push into the territory of traditional groceries, shows Amazon's constant push for expansion into a multichannel company. 

 

What can you learn from this:

When you have a service, you need to look into adjacent markets that share logistics that you already offer. By utilising your existing operation tools to go horizontal with your services, you can reach new markets with very little investment into new capital.

Furthermore, they are able to add value to their existing membership program by leveraging new services. This can be replicated in your own business to add more people to your subscriptions and increase the lifetime of your existing customers.  

 

M&S: £340 million into automated food distribution

M&S has unveiled a major automated distribution centre for Northamptonshire in 2029. Although this is a far-off project, it shows the start of the autonomous revolution. This investment is planned to double the size of the M&S food business. Through automation, they will be able to increase product availability, cost efficiency, and improve product capacity. 

 

What can you learn from this:

M&S has shown ambition in future-proofing their distribution needs and preparing for growth over the next 4 years. This long-term plan could be risky, but it shows confidence in their own expansion. For your own business, it shows the importance of looking to the future and trusting that your growth projections are accurate. Without putting long-term projects in place, your company can stagnate and fail to facilitate your own growth. It is as important to plan for years in the future as it is to plan for tomorrow.

 

Co-op: Going Electric

Co-op has begun replacing their paper shelf-edge labels with NFC-enabled electronic labels. This project has already reached over 700 stores and will be in place in 1,600 stores by the end of the year. They plan to have them in all Co-op stores by the end of 2026. The new tags will be able to be changed in real time by employees for promotions or price changes. They will also be able to be interacted with by the customer via smartphone to access origin, allergen, and nutrition information. This move will also improve sustainability and speed of price changes and updating stock. 

 

What can you learn from this:

Sometimes you can reach multiple targets with the same solution. Modern-day solutions often benefit multiple parts of your business. When moving from paper to electronic operations, you usually see an efficiency boost alongside a sustainability boost. There is something to be learned about the amount of time it takes to scale a solution company-wide. As for Co-op, this is a two-year ordeal. Therefore, they will only be able to fully see the impact of the change more than two years on from its inception. It is important to understand the time frames of company-wide change and, therefore, the importance of making the right decision at the start. 

 

We have even more industry teaching with our Keynote speakers. At our Retail Supply Chain and Logistics Expo, you can hear from Stuart Rendall of the Co-op and Amy Reeve of Amazon. Don’t worry, it is the same location as White Label World Expo and is part of our Expo Series.

Get your tickets here to come along to the show