Table 3 Expert assessment of discrepancies and recommendations for response (St. 13)
Discrepancies in innovations contributing to the online purchase of daily groceries (in Germany) | |
Reasons for higher probability | - Trend towards digitalization evident (e.g., increasing number of delivery services, subscription offers for food boxes, etc) and technical possibilities more advanced |
- Consumers are becoming increasingly convenient (e.g., lack of time favours solutions that allow consumers to spend less time grocery shopping. Additionally, the demand for a broad and simple selection of products is increasing) | |
- Online grocery shopping enables individualized food offerings | |
- Opportunity for major distributors, resulting in strong market tends in the corresponding direction | |
- Smaller grocery stores (e.g., in rural areas) are disappearing and alternatives for grocery shopping are needed | |
Reasons for lower desirability | - Rik of market concentration: Larger market players are better equipped to cope with new demands (e.g., investment in equipment), squeezing out smaller market participants |
- Larger market players can absorb the actual costs for transport, packaging and logistics, thus obscuring the true environmental costs | |
- More packaging waste and traffic | |
- Online grocery shopping decreases the human-food connection | |
- Difficult communication due to the elimination of customer contact | |
- Quality of food becomes untransparent | |
- Disappearance of traditional retail can negatively affect urban structures | |
- Smaller towns lose social infrastructure and options for value creation (e.g., online shops do not offer local jobs) | |
- Loss of regional and (small) farming structures | |
Options for "avoiding harm" with innovations contributing to the online purchase of daily groceries (in Germany) | |
Institutions,Structures & Procedures | - Provide best-practice examples for the establishment of comprehensive digital infrastructures (e.g., business models based on online purchasing channels for smaller retailers) |
- Engage in political/societal debates for direct support for smaller retailers (e.g., to establish online purchasing platforms that include services for shared logistics and transport) | |
- Engage in political/societal debates for the establishment of tax arrangements and subsidies favoring CO2-neutral transport | |
- Engage in political/societal debates for stricter regulations regarding in favor of electric vehicles or other more climate-neutral transport and delivery concepts | |
- Engage in political/societal debates to broaden options for climate-neutral transport (e.g., rail transport) | |
- Engage in political/societal debates on the expansion of the transport network (e.g., autonomous public transport networks with connections for freight transport) | |
- Provide approaches for alternative deposit systems for transport (e.g., boxes instead of plastic bags) | |
- Engage in political/societal debates for improvements and regulatory interventions in regional logistics | |
- Cooperate with regional value chains (e.g., to organize central pick-up stations) | |
- Seek cooperations for the establishment of shorter transport routes | |
- Promote consumer participation (e.g., with positive narratives, which strengthens consumers´ interest in production) | |
- Involve small and medium-sized enterprises in food supply chains to establish trade associations (e.g., similar to vegetable boxes) | |
- Increase transparency about current agricultural value chains e.g., to strengthen consumers interest in production | |
- Create competencies for digital business models (e.g., for direct marketing) | |
- Commit towards improving the competencies of more traditional agri-food system actors (e.g., smaller retailers, farmers) in digital business models and fostering collaboration | |
- Elaborate alternatives for last-mile deliveries (e.g., cargo bikes) | |
- Use environmentally friendly packaging (e.g., focus on recycling and reusable packaging) | |
- Apply climate-friendly transport options | |
- Focus on regional products that can be offered and distributed locally | |