Online Grocery Retail: Lessons learned from Webvan’s dot-com era excesses

Webvan was one of the pioneers of online grocery retail, created with a vision to revolutionize the grocery market. It tried to get too big, too fast and failed spectacularly. It became synonymous with one of the largest dotcom flops, serving as a prime example of what to avoid while expanding a business. Today a new wave of online grocers is trying to revive and adapt Webvan's business model

Scope

Analysis of online grocery retail, its opportunities and threats

Analysis of Webvan's strategy and the reason's for its failure

Looks at how a new wave of online grocers are operating to cash in on demand for e-retail solutions in the food retail space

Reasons to buy

What are threats and opportunities in the online grocery market?

What is the size of the online grocery market and who are its main players?

Which are the companies trying to revive and adapt Webvan's strategy?

What factors are expected to drive the online grocery market going forward?

Companies mentioned

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Table of Contents

OVERVIEW

Catalyst

Summary

ONLINE GROCERY RETAIL: OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS

Great growth potential as online sales are only a fraction of grocery business

Online grocery market expected to reach $100bn in 2018

Customers switching to online grocers spend 30% more

Grocery retailers are reluctant to move online

High delivery costs and need for excellent service provide challenges

Online grocery shoppers harder to satisfy

WEBVAN: THE BIGGEST DOT-COM BUST

Start up with a vision to revolutionize grocery retailing

The biggest IPO to date in Silicon Valley

Rapid expansion based on assumptions

Wrong target audience and pricing

Revenue growth failed to support enormous investment

The largest dot-com flop in history

NEW WAVE OF ONLINE GROCERY RETAILERS

Easy access and convenience expected to drive online grocery growth

More players trying to adapt to the new medium

AmazonFresh: The phoenix from Webvan's ashes

Instacart trying to succeed where Webvan failed

CONCLUSIONS

Webvan failure provides lessons that prove online grocery retail can work

APPENDIX

Definitions

Sources

Further Reading

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