Retailing 4.0: The New Era of E-commerce in Fast Moving Consumer Goods

Abstract

The arrival of the online channel has initiated a new cycle in competitiveness among retailers characterized by shoppers’ increasing nomadism around physical and digital touch points. The present work adopts a supply-side analytical approach to highlight drivers and perspectives of e-commerce development within the grocery sector. Research results emphasize that: (i) online-native retailers hold a well-established position of leadership worldwide and thus fundamentally influence e-grocery dynamics as a whole; (ii) the e-commerce channel is characterized by profit margins that are significantly lower than store-based channel ones. This represents the main limitation to online grocery sales growth, above all for offline-native retailers who maintain core business in their bricks & mortar stores.