""I ordered raspberries. They send me cauliflowers." That's how a Californian shopper described their online grocery experience buying groceries from Walmart using the Instacart app. Our fieldwork has revealed similar mishaps. These mismatched substitutions have become a symbol of a deeper problem-one that quietly erodes profitability, damages customer trust, and impedes the growth of online ordering in retail."
"Daniel Corsten is a professor in the Department of Technology and Operations at IE Business School and an investor in retail start-ups. Luigi Laporte is a professor of Operations at the University Torcuato di Tella. Srikanth Jagabathula is professor of Technology, Operations, and Statistics and the Robert Stansky Research Faculty Fellow at New York University."
A Californian online grocery customer received cauliflower instead of raspberries, illustrating frequent mismatched substitutions in online orders. Fieldwork found similar mishaps when customers place orders through services like Instacart for retailers such as Walmart. These substitutions reflect operational and inventory challenges that break order accuracy and upset customer expectations. The consequences include reduced profitability from returns and inefficiencies, weakened customer trust and loyalty, and slower adoption of online grocery channels. Addressing inventory control, picker guidance, and substitution policies is necessary to restore accuracy and support sustainable growth of online retail ordering.
Read at Harvard Business Review
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]