The Food Marketing Institute's annual extravaganza in Chicago started at the weekend with all the usual opportunities to meet, greet and eat. But that's not all. Questions about technology-driven commerce are sure to rise to the fore this year, particularly those questions concerned with the plethora of business-to-consumer offers that have arisen or evolved in the past year.
An indication of a new technology orientation for the show is implicit in the FMI's inauguration of the convention-floor SuperTechMart exhibit together with the scheduling of several workshops on the topic and the dedication of a portion of the Speaks presentation to it.
In keeping with the industry's new interest and concerns about business-to-consumer retailing -- what it is, who is doing it and what's next -- this week's SN contains a major report on each significant player in this new trade channel.
The report starts on the front page of this week's issue -- the largest published this year -- and continues through a number of inside pages. The report consists of detailed analysis of individual companies. Each is also summarized by means of a vital-statistics chart outlining basic information such as location, area served, sales volume, stock symbol, major investors and executives. As you'll see, the package of news features is unified with the "Net Shopping Battle" logo.
Here's a quick look at a few of the companies profiled in this week's SN, and their challenges:
Peapod: This company is shaking off a near-death experience. Peapod, an early pioneer in on-line grocery commerce, had a brush with insolvency in recent weeks, but then attracted major financing from Ahold, a synergistic player. Ahold's interest not only threw a lifeline to Peapod, but gave the retailer quick entry into the world of e-commerce. The move also furthered the trend of conventional and on-line retailing combinations now sprouting up everywhere. Can Peapod sustain its comeback, and Ahold prosper with it? HomeGrocer.com: This is an example of many such companies that are quite new, but consider themselves to be on a fast-track to growth. HomeGrocer fulfills orders for not just groceries, but video and office supplies. It is based on the dedicated-distribution model, with distribution points in three cities. It plans to roll out to two more immediately. Among the investors in HomeGrocer is Amazon.com.
This is the conventional on-line model. Will it prevail?
Priceline.com: This company has the most unusual offer in the e-commerce universe, the bidding model. Through its WebHouse Club licensee, Priceline invites shoppers to enter into a bidding process intended to deliver low prices, but also to forgo brand choice. Shoppers deliver their own orders by picking from participating conventional supermarkets. This business model is expected to be available in most of the country by the winter.
