Product planning strategies and implementation

Fresh Direct

Product planning

FreshDirect: A unique opportunity

Consumers today are busy -- often so busy they do not have time to shop. Grocery shopping is time-consuming, especially after work. Getting to the store, parking, navigating the aisles (especially with small children) and checking out -- not most consumers' idea of a fun evening. FreshDirect offers a great solution: online shopping. With a few clicks of a mouse, and for a small fee, the chore of grocery shopping is accomplished with great ease for the consumer. There is no need to even carry heavy shopping bags to the car.

Consumers are health-conscious and want to improve the quality of their lives by cooking at home more and eating out less. However, it is easy to grab takeout rather than grocery shop because of the pressures surrounding the chore of shopping. FreshDirect ensures that healthy foods are waiting on the customer's door when he or she arrives home from work. For grocery stores worried about competing with fast food outlets or even more upscale prepared meal items at Applebee's, offering the service of FreshDirect enables them to stay competitive. For consumers who don't want to cook, it is very easy to order healthy prepared food items for their families and have the meals delivered to their doors at a lower cost than a fast food meal. They do not even have to worry about waiting in line at a drive-in.

There is a broad consumer demographic that would be interested in FreshDirect. For busy professionals, it is easy to order groceries while surfing the Internet at work and 'check off' yet another item on their 'to-do' lists. For busy soccer moms ferrying their kids around the neighborhood, they can be assured that it is easy to whip up a healthy meal upon arriving home. For parents of young children, shopping via FreshDirect eliminates the 'nag factor.' They do not have to worry about letting their children loose in a store. Children have a habit of running through the aisles and demanding to buy all of the unhealthy, processed foods that they have seen advertised on television. In contrast, the shopping experience offered by FreshDirect is easy and controlled. For older individuals who need assistance shopping, or people who are sick and have trouble getting to the store, FreshDirect can literally be their lifeline to a source of good, nutritious meals.

FreshDirect takes away the worries connected with so many of life's modern chores regarding setting priorities, healthy living, parenting, and caring for aging relatives. The image of FreshDirect taps into the sense of positive family values embodied in the image of so many 'big box' and large grocery stores. Cooking and eating together promotes family togetherness and FreshDirect is an easier way of making mealtimes together as a family a reality. No more dining out of fast food bags in the back of the car coming home from soccer games! No more ordering pizza after a long day of work!

Delivery fees are relatively modest, and when you figure in the cost of waiting in traffic, they seem even more reasonable. Also, in the long run the customer saves money because he or she is cooking and eating at home, rather than eating out. Consumers are watching the Food Network, getting savvier about food, and the only reason people are not cooking as much as they did in the past is a lack of time. FreshDirect gives them that time, and encourages patronage of stores that offer customers good quality, wholesome basic ingredients at reasonable prices.