Dynamics in the Swedish Grocery Retail Industry : The current landscape, challenges and levers in distribution for Swedish grocery retailers

Abstract: There is a significant transformation taking place in today’s retail landscape with the increasing adoption of digital technologies in society. Customers are finding new purchasing habits and retailers are exploring different channels to serve customers in. Observations indicate that the industry is heading towards an omni-channel landscape where retailers aim to provide customers with a unified shopping experience across channels and touchpoints as e-commerce rapidly penetrates the market. Currently, all growth for durable goods is attributable to online sales in Sweden, yet Swedish online grocery retailing has been lagging and still only constitute 2 percent of the total market share. A qualitative study was conducted to map out the challenges and levers for Swedish grocery retailers in distribution . Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 18 store managers from the three largest grocery store chains in Sweden. The study elicits a framework for firm controlled factors which define customer experience: price, promotion, merchandise, supply chain and location.