Consumer experience : An exploratory study of why consumers chose to buy groceries online

Abstract: Traditional grocery shopping has been the only option for Swedish consumers to purchase groceries for a long time. However, the relatively new format, online grocery shopping is rapidly growing in popularity. Hence, consumers are presented with a completely new grocery shopping experience which has different advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of this thesis is to explore which advantages and disadvantages consumers experience with offline, and online grocery shopping to answer the question why consumers chose to buy groceries online. A conceptual model has been developed based on earlier research on grocery shopping, consumer experience and the four dimensions of the marketing mix; product, place, price and promotion. Qualitative data has been collected from two focus groups and five semi-structured interviews to explore what advantages and disadvantages consumers experience connected to offline and online grocery shopping and to understand why consumers chose to buy groceries online. All respondents shared most of the experienced advantages of online grocery shopping. The main reasons why consumers chose to purchase groceries online was to save both time and effort. Moreover, consumers experienced that they saved money due to less spontaneous purchases and fewer shopping trips per week. Online grocery shopping is growing in popularity. Hence, this thesis gives insights relevant to practitioners and academics on why consumers experience a desire to purchase groceries online. The findings of this thesis could help online grocery retailers to respond more efficiently to consumers’ needs and preferences.