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Good feedback, I appreciate it. "You need physical stores": Sort of. We need physical warehouses. The core of the Ernie's business model is that these location
by rsbrown 15y ago
Good feedback, I appreciate it.
"You need physical stores": Sort of. We need physical warehouses. The core of the Ernie's business model is that these locations will be much cheaper to operate than the traditional grocery storefront, therefore increasing net margins. They will take expertise to operate; luckily, this expertise is well-established and readily available.
"Your stores are going to have to be as big as a supermarket": Not necessarily. Our SKU count will have to be big enough to be compelling. But Trader Joe's has proven that a very low SKU count can still be compelling if the value proposition is there. Trader Joe's value prop is low prices. Ernie's is convenience. On top of that, we're cramming our SKUs into a warehouse layout. Our real estate footprint will be much, much smaller than a supermarket.
"What's the advantage over just ordering my goods online... ?": The advantage is in the operations model. Home delivery will always be a much more expensive grocery offering. This results in some combination of fees and/or higher prices. Ernie's is not price premium offering. No fees. It's cheaper for us to sell the same can of beans to you than it is for Safeway. Much less than a home delivery offering.
"40 minutes in a grocery store? / 73 hours per year?": We'll just have to agree to disagree on these points. Those folks that hate wandering around the grocery (or have small children, or are physically challenged, or have better things to do with their time) are who we are marketing to. I, for one, look forward to getting 3 days of my life back every year. :)
- retube 15y agoThoughtful responses. I am looking at this from a very UK perspective, so much of what I've said maybe (and indeed sounds like it is) not relevant to the US. Over here UK supermarkets have matured their online businesses very well. It's no more expensive than in-store and delivery is free to cheap depending on how narrow a delievry window you can handle. Plus of course the US is much larger geographically and much more car-focused, so it might be a much more viable business model. Either way - it's a big project. Good luck!
- rsbrown 15y agoAs I've done research for Ernie's, I have been extremely impressed with what the UK grocers have accomplished (led by Tesco). If I had to pick a single grocery supply chain as our "gold standard" to emulate, it would definitely be Tesco.
- tooba 15y agoI'm in the UK and would love click and collect groceries. Shopping online is the easy bit. Waiting around for a two hour delivery window is the problem especially when I drive past the store on the way home. Something like Ernie's would be ideal. It'd even be worthwhile for collecting a few day to day items. I'm surprised Tesco hasn't done this already.
- JonWood 15y agoWhere do you live? If you're in East London you might want to give hubbub.co.uk a try (disclaimer: I'm there lead developer). We do really good food, 1-hour delivery windows, and same day deliveries for no extra if you order before noon.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]