Recent research sheds light on some of the reasons behind the spectacular successes and failures in the online grocery industry. Initial findings of a three-year, ongoing study, “Internet Disintermediation of Food Delivery: Spanning the Last Mile,” funded by the National Science Foundation, conclude that some of the industry's early efforts (such as Webvan, Streamline and Home Grocer) failed as operating business models because they ignored key insights now being applied by today's successful online groceries.The research is being conducted by Kenneth Boyer, associate professor of operations management, Tomas Hult, associate professor of marketing and supply chain management, both at Michigan State University's Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, and Mark Frohlich, assistant professor of operations and technology management at the London Business School. It includes interviews and survey data from most of the industry's major competitors, such as Sainsbury's and Ocado in Britain and Peapod, Lowes Foods To Go and Albertsons in the United States, and incorporates customer survey data from four online grocers, each of which employs a distinctly different marketing and supply-chain strategy.The researchers suggest the study reveals broadly applicable principles for any company trying to market and sell through the Internet.
