The Australian Food and Beverage Industry has changed dramatically over the last two years. The way customers purchased Food & Beverages prior to Covid is much different to the way they purchase them today. In such a short space of time, customer buying preferences have transitioned from a traditional face-to-face and call ordering method to online. In saying that, to be successful in 2022 and beyond, F&B businesses need to adapt to the latest customer buying trends and offer a solution that customers want.
Here are 4 New Customer Buying Trends Changing the Australian Food and Beverage Industry in 2022.
Online Ordering
It’s no secret that Online Ordering has changed the Food and Beverage industry. Over the last two years, Online Ordering has exploded in popularity, largely due to restrictions enforced by the Covid Pandemic. To put things into perspective, research shows that 62% of B2B Food and Beverage customers use Online as their preferred ordering method. To highlight the sudden shift, this is a whopping 33% larger than pre-covid levels.
The reason why Online Ordering has continued to be the ordering method of choice is because it offers convenience. Customers can order online at a time that suits them best. They can simply click and pay and receive. Online Ordering will continue to be the go-to ordering method for the foreseeable future as it offers customers the fastest and easiest ordering experience. To be successful in 2022 and beyond all b2b F&B Businesses MUST have an Online Ordering Website for Customers.
Related Article: Why Australian Food Distribution Businesses MUST have an Online Ordering Website.
Recurring Ordering
A brand-new ordering trend quickly growing in popularity in the Food and Beverage Industry in 2022 is recurring ordering. For some businesses this may not be all that new, many businesses may already offer some sort of recurring ordering for customers, but what is changing the industry is the new processes undertaken by both customers and businesses.
The part of recurring ordering that has been gaining popularity is the process of doing it online. For businesses that already offer recurring ordering many only take and fulfil the order, often they invoice customers at a later date. The problem with this is it is too manual for both businesses and customers.
Using an Online Ordering website, businesses have been implementing a recurring ordering and payment method for customers. Customers can place their regular order online and have the option to have payments debited at the same time every week, or at an agreed time that is best for both parties. For businesses, the benefit of offering an online recurring order offering is it increases cashflow and customer loyalty whilst offering greater convenience for customers.
Related Article: The Best Strategies to Retain Customers at Your Food and Beverage Business.
Bulk Ordering
This one has been popular for some time for regular shopping, but now it is beginning to filter down to the Distribution side of the Food and Beverage Industry. In the last two years the industry has seen a fairly sudden shift to bulk purchasing.
Bulk Purchasing offers many benefits to both customers and suppliers. For customers, the more you order the less expensive it is and for businesses, the more stock you sell, the more you make.
One of the challenges of this new trend has been forecasting, with many customers only recently transitioning to bulk ordering it has become tough for many businesses to accurately forecast how much stock to order.
If your business is looking to accept bulk ordering it is important to communicate with the particular customer to try to get a read on future ordering. The last thing your business wants is to order large quantities and have them expire before they are sold.
Related Article: 5 Food & Beverage Inventory Management Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them.
Customer Reviews
Another trend that has been enormously popular in other industries that is now only starting to take affect of the F&B industry is customer reviews. Over the last two years customers have become increasingly cautious of who to buy from.
Recent studies showed that 90% of Australians use Online Reviews to determine who to buy with. To put it simply, your business needs to collect reviews from past customers to be successful. To build trust with customers your business needs to display online reviews in every conceivable avenue. Good areas to display customer reviews include on your Online Ordering Website, Google Business Listing, and your Facebook Business page. Any avenue you think customers may find you, try to find a way to display customer reviews.
Related Article: How Food and Beverage Businesses Can Build Trust with Customers.
Final Word,
Customer buying trends are constantly changing. To be successful in the Australian F&B industry your business needs to adapt to your customers and implement the ordering methods that they want. The 4 trends mentioned above are a few new ways customers are ordering F&B products in 2022.
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For food and beverage businesses, EasyVend supports and automates every part of your business, freeing you up to grow your sales simply unlike other ERP systems.
EasyVend features include Stock Management, Online Ordering, Invoicing, Receipting, Automatic Credit Card Payments, Xero Accounting Integration, Route Management, Business reporting and more.
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