Consumer interest in quick delivery of everyday products remains high

Roland Berger, a leading German consultancy, has just published results of a survey in the “Lebensmittelpraxis” trade magazine. It concerns Quick Commerce (QC) and is entitled “QC- a lasting revolution” 6,000 respondents were interviewed for the study in Germany, France and the UK.

Consumer interest in quick delivery of everyday products remains high. Purchases of groceries and drugstore items are increasing in volume. According to Thorsten de Boer, partner at Roland Berger, QC can be seen as an improved level of service. But it really is more, indeed a new channel with its own unique business model.

QC focuses on consumer goods with a high rate of sales. It is progressing in particular in urban areas. 46% want to switch their purchases to QC. The Top 5 categories are pharmaceuticals and groceries (each 10%), out of home food (7%), drugstore items (4%) and electronics (4%).

40 – 47% of respondents consider the choice of products available in QC to be too limited. They are however reluctant to pay more for their preferred brands or delivery charges. Consumers expect delivery times to be within 30-60 minutes.

For spontaneous or urgent deliveries, 27% consider QC to be important.
For goods like the weekly grocery shop, a further 27% think that on the next day or within 2-3 days is sufficient.

Only the most efficient players will survive in such a competitive segment.
Multi-channel retailers are seen to have 2 entry options: partnership with an existing company or build up their own capacity. Roland Berger consider the partnership option to be the more feasible. Whichever option, staring up is an expensive job in a large country such as Germany, where 11 depots nationally would be necessary to provide delivery within 2 hours and a further 30 shops would be needed in large conurbations for same-day delivery.