How Can e-Grocers Use Artificial Intelligence Based on Technology Innovation to Improve Supply Chain Management?

Abstract

The digital transformation among grocery sales is in full swing. However, some retailers are struggling to adapt to technological innovation in the grocery industry to achieve digital excellence. The purpose of this article is to analyse artificial intelligence systems applied in e-commerce that could be implemented in online grocery sales. Unlike other online businesses, grocery sales face logistical challenges that differentiate them, such as fresh product conservation and tight delivery times. Through a literature review, this study aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a starting point for the selection of technological innovation to solve e-grocery problems.

Innovating agri-food business models after the Covid-19 pandemic: The impact of digital technologies on the value creation and value capture mechanisms

“…Food retailers traditionally adopt brick and mortar BMs that have proven to be extremely rooted and hardly influenced by digital disruption, until recently ( Abbu et al, 2021 ; Vazquez-Noguerol et al, 2021 ). In fact, in latest years food retailers are innovating traditional mechanisms of their BMs thanks to digital technologies ( Vojvodić, 2019 ; Kraak, 2020 ; Lagorio and Pinto, 2020 ; Nosratabadi et al, 2020 ), thus resulting in a closest synergy between physical and digital channels ( Yrjölä, 2014 ; Fagerstrøm et al, 2017 ; Sturiale and Scuderi, 2017 ).…”

“…In addition to this, the use of sophisticated technologies such as robots and micro-fulfillment centers in stores optimize picking and inventory management in such an efficient way that physical stores become strategic points for quickly fulfilling orders placed online, sometimes devoting themselves entirely to this function, as in the case of “dark stores” ( Grewal et al, 2020 ; Kraak, 2020 ). The use of food retail stores for activating e-commerce BMs brings new value creation and capture mechanisms, including the reduction in time spent and information asymmetries for customers ( Güsken, 2018 ; Mason, 2019 ), the definition of new resources and activities to manage customer demand, transport, and fulfillment issues ( Hübner et al, 2019 ; Davies et al, 2019 ; Vazquez-Noguerol et al, 2021 ), and the development of subscription options ( Belavina et al, 2016 ; Wagner et al, 2021 ).…”