How Code Can Help You Get Groceries?

You’re Out of Groceries, What’s Next?

Imagine you’re back from work one day. You look forward to cooking and settling down to a nice dinner with your family. You open your fridge to check for some fresh vegetables and groceries, and it is empty. What a disappointing end to the soothing hope of a family meal! Not if you have the latest grocery app that promises delivery in 10 minutes. In any case, most grocery apps deliver items to your doorstep within a few hours.

A few decades ago, parents and children had one regular outing to look forward to. Surely, you will have nostalgic memories of accompanying your parents or grandparents to the neighborhood grocery store. Today, you don’t even have to interact with a person to get your groceries. All you need to do is unlock your phone, tap on the app, select the items, and checkout to pay! The software code takes care of each step, from displaying a catalog, receiving your order, accepting your payment, and delivering it. If you need to track the delivery, you can even check your order journey through the app, right up until it arrives at your doorstep. Let’s learn more about how a code can help you get groceries.

So How Does the Code Work to Help You Get Groceries?

Nowadays, e-commerce software provides the code for web-based and app-based shopping. Here are the common types of platforms available for e-grocery sites and apps. The code that can help you get groceries differs in complexity as per the platform. The code, in its simplest form, knows your name, address, and what groceries you need.

• Single-vendor Platform: A single vendor chooses to sell his or her goods online. For instance, if your neighborhood store owner decides to go online for grocery deliveries, he can take the help of a code that is designed for a single-vendor model.
• Multi-vendor Platform: Multiple vendors sell their goods through a common app. On this platform, the code for delivering groceries will also contain an additional app available to the delivery persons so that they can pick up the ordered goods and deliver them to multiple customers.
• Hyperlocal: A seller sells the grocery shopping service through a website or app by sourcing goods from multiple vendors as per demand. They don’t stock the products. For instance, Amazon Fresh is a hyperlocal platform as the groceries sold on the Amazon app are not sourced from Amazon. Instead, they’re sourced from other stores that stock them.

The marriage of food and technology is called “food tech.” Today’s grocery delivery websites and apps provide the following typical functions for groceries and meals deliveries. 

1. Browse and Search the Online Catalog: On most shopping sites or grocery apps, you will be able to browse through various categories of grocery products on offer. If you prefer to search for the item you want to purchase, you can also type it in and search for it. In the case of deliveries from a restaurant or a cloud kitchen, you can even scan a QR code to view the menu and order from it.
2. Add to the Cart: The code lets you add items of your choice to the online cart. You may review the cart, remove, or add items multiple times until you’re good to go.
3. Place your Order: The code in the app lets you place the order and asks for details about the delivery destination of your choice. 
4. Paying for Your Order: The all-in-one integrated code for grocery apps lets you select a payment method ranging from cash, credit or debit cards, online wallets, to cash. 
5. Pickup or Doorstep Delivery: You may choose to pick up your order at certain stores or have it delivered to your home. If you want a contactless delivery, you can provide instructions  and pay online for a contactless payment experience.
6. Happy Customer Experience: The above interactions with the code that can help you get groceries allow for a better customer experience for you in the future. The code saves your order history, address, and payment details. 

Current Limitations With Code That can Help You Get Groceries

If you’ve used any of the apps to get groceries delivered, you may already know that the service is not perfect. It can cause frustration to the customer as well as the vendor at various touch points listed below.

• Incorrect Items Delivered: Occasionally, you may have experienced the items getting mixed up with something you didn’t order, or the quantities getting mixed up due to inadequate stopping or incorrect inventory tagging.
• Problems With Perishable Foods:  In the case of perishable items such as milk and cheese, inadequate packaging can cause spillage. The items may be close to or past their use-by dates. 
• Problems With Delivery: A rude delivery agent may cause trouble, typically by forcing your hand with a tip or ruining your packaging. In the case of express deliveries, the agent might get into an accident trying to get to you on time.
• Payment Issues: If you’ve opted to pay cash and you don’t have the exact change to pay the delivery agent, it can be a frustrating experience. Similarly, card swipe machines may occasionally fail to work, or you may be charged multiple times for a single order due to technical issues.
• Quality Issues: In the case of fresh fruits and vegetables, the quality of the delivered items may be subpar. You may not get the freshness, size, or level of ripeness that you hoped for.
• Packaging: Most online orders are packed in plastic containers or polythene bags, which are not environment-friendly and, hence, not sustainable.

Exciting Innovations in Food Tech

The code to help get your groceries is ever-evolving and gathers all the interaction data. The future of food tech looks promising with innovations such as voice-enabled ordering, plastic-free packaging, edible packaging, and modern processing techniques that can keep food fresher for longer.

Code for e-grocery sites and apps encompasses several subsystems such as order management, user management, customer service management, and delivery management. In addition, the code that helps analyze the data recorded in these systems is even more exciting to learn. The next time you wish to order groceries, go online and let your child play around with the options before placing an order. Your child may discover an interest in learning more about how a code can help you get groceries.

Read more articles on BYJU’S FutureSchool blog to learn more about e-commerce and e-grocery, or even sign your child up for a free trial class in coding.