This year, FMI has focused on providing education and information around e-commerce for its retailers. We’ve hosted a webinar series with Rosie, an online grocery shopping service, on the advantages, challenges and opportunities surrounding e-commerce for the grocery industry. In the third webinar of this series, Leading Retailers: E-commerce as a Competitive Advantage, FMI and Rosie engaged in a panel discussion with leading retailers who have successfully launched online shopping at their stores. The discussion quickly shifted to the topic on many food retailers minds—is online grocery shopping eroding in store business?

Panelists included:

Eddie Frye, retail solutions and eCommerce manager, Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Co.;

Mark Mahoney, executive vice president and director of operations, Dash’s Market; and

Corry Lankford, eCommerce director, Brookshire Brothers.

Lankford debunks the myth that online grocery shopping is a threat, telling participants that customers are, “spending larger baskets and shopping more with Brookshire, not less, and more frequently.” Mahoney from Dash’s also provides evidence to the contrary, telling us that online customers spend 40 percent more than in store customers, and that online customers shop the whole store, rather than “cherry picking.”

The debate and conversation on online vs. in-store grocery shopping continues. This webinar was filled with information and best practices on e-commerce, and is available on FMI’s website.