A recent survey into online grocery shopping by Kingston University’s Faculty of Business and Law stated that shoppers are rejecting the medium and returning to physical shopping.  The research cites a range of reasons, from the quality of the end product received to the issues of packing and delivery.  Digital specialists may start to look for different ways to improve the process through better user experiences, more intuitive CRM and interface personalisation, but is there a more fundamental human truth hidden in these findings?

To uncover this truth we need to take a moment to unpick the grocery shopping process.  We can have all of our favourites listed for ease of use on the online engine, then set the delivery time that fits into our day and also find goods we are looking for (providing we know what they are of course), and then press the pay or buy now button.  But herein lies the insight…  We now wait.  In waiting, we alter our shopping conditions from being active to becoming passive, we wait.  Unlike any other shopping experience, in this instance there is no emotive reward, only a rational reward of a task completed.

Online grocery makes sense, and will always ...