Viewpoint: reaching the consumer through e‐grocery VMI Available to Purchase

Current e‐grocery models are based on the consumer making his or her purchase over the Internet, and the e‐grocer delivering the purchase to the household. However, there are numerous opportunities for innovative new services. Analyzes the opportunities offered by bar code and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to develop a new type of e‐grocery related service, namely vendor‐managed inventory (VMI) in the household. In assessing the opportunity for extending the value offering of an e‐grocery business to VMI in the household a number of key operational issues are addressed, i.e. data capture, solution robustness and cost saving potential in the supply chain. The analysis indicates that the development of new value offerings such as VMI is critical if e‐grocery businesses are ever to gain a competitive advantage over traditional retail formats.