[유통]FreshDirect vs. Peapod:뉴욕의 온라인 식품 대결

Retailing

FreshDirect vs. Peapod: New York's Online Food Fight

By Julie Cruz on March 14, 2013

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-14/freshdirect-vs-dot-peapod-new-yorks-online-food-fight#r=nav-fs

Like many New Yorkers, Trish Shortell is a longtime customer of FreshDirect, the city’s No. 1 online grocer. But Shortell, a recruiter for a New York advertising agency and mother of three, has begun to find FreshDirect’s selection lacking and its prices a bit rich, even by New York standards. Cooked wild king crab legs go for $24.99 a pound, and Swiss Gruyère cheese, aged 14 months in Alpine caves, is $19.99 a pound. So lately Shortell has been shifting some purchases to Peapod, a rival online grocer owned by Dutch retailer Ahold. That’s good news for the interloper, which charges $2.79 for a half gallon of Farmland Special Request Skim Plus fat-free milk, $1.50 cheaper than FreshDirect. Boasts Peg Merzbacher, Peapod’s director of marketing: “We have suburban supermarket prices in the city.”

That poses a challenge for FreshDirect, whose orange-and-green delivery trucks have ruled Manhattan’s double-parked streets for a decade. Now its drivers jockey for curb space with vans from Peapod. Although it’s a relatively new kid on the block in New York, Peapod is the biggest Internet grocer in the U.S., thanks in part to partnerships with Ahold’s big brick-and-mortar Stop & Shop and Giant supermarket chains along the East Coast. It waited until 2011, though, to enter Manhattan, where FreshDirect estimates it has 80 percent of the market. To catch up, Peapod’s offering free delivery to new customers and cheaper prices on everyday goods like coffee and milk.

That approach lured enough shoppers to give Peapod a sales gain of more than 10 percent in 2012, with a similar increase forecast this year, says Merzbacher. The growth will help Ahold reach its goal of tripling global online sales to €1.5 billion ($2 billion) by 2016. U.S. consumers will buy $21 billion of groceries on the Web in 2016, a 52 percent jump over last year, forecasts Forrester Research (FORR).

Closely held FreshDirect expects shoppers will remain loyal to the fresh foods and prepared meals that helped push its sales to about $400 million last year, according to the company. “There’s room for two competitors,” says Tom Meyvis, a marketing professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “What Peapod can do is to focus less on the gourmet segment and emphasize regular products at a competitive price.”

Peapod, founded by brothers Andrew and Thomas Parkinson in suburban Chicago in 1989, was acquired by Ahold in 2000, just as the dot-com bubble burst. Today it sells on the East Coast and in several Midwestern markets. Peapod avoided Manhattan for years, partly because the snarling traffic and strict parking regulations can make the delivery business a nightmare. FreshDirect doesn’t take issue with a newspaper report that its drivers amassed $600,000 in parking tickets during the company’s first two years.

Despite the challenges, Manhattan is an alluring market for online grocers thanks to its densely packed, Web-savvy, time-starved residents. FreshDirect’s sales hit $100 million after two years, fueled by its recommendations engine and an ordering system that promised delivery inside a two-hour window. Today it serves 100,000 active customers. Having secured a commanding presence in New York City and its surrounding suburbs, FreshDirect expanded to Philadelphia in October.

Peapod’s plan to win over Manhattan hinges on lower prices. It sells a 12-ounce bag of Dunkin’ Donuts (DNKN) original blend ground coffee for $6.99, 30 percent cheaper than FreshDirect. Evian water, Skippy peanut butter, and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes are also less expensive.

FreshDirect co-founder David McInerney says the company’s large assortment of fresh produce, meats, fish, and cheeses gives it a big edge over Peapod. He says competition from natural food purveyor Whole Foods Market (WFM), with seven locations in Manhattan, is a bigger concern. The company has also developed about 100 microwaveable meals, some co-branded with popular Manhattan restaurants such as Rosa Mexicano. Priced around $9, the meals appeal to busy New Yorkers who want good food fast. “There’s no competitive advantage in packaged food,” McInerney says. “There are plenty of people that can ship a box of cereal.”

The bottom line: American consumers’ purchases of groceries online are expected to jump 52 percent in the next four years.

요약 

 뉴욕에서 온라인 식료품 전문점 1위인 FreshDirect의 오랜 고객 중 하나는 Trish Shortell이다. 그러나 Shortell은 상품 구색이 부족하고 가격이 비싸다는 것을 깨닫고, 최근에 독일 유통업체 Ahold가 소유한 온라인 식료품 전문점 Peapod에서 구매하기 시작했다. Peapod의 마케팅 담당자는 말한다. "우리는 뉴욕에서 교외의 가격으로 제공하고 있다."라고. 이는  FreshDirect에 대한 도전이다. Peapod는 Ahold의 거대 소매점 Stop & Shop와 Giant 슈퍼마켓 체인과의 제휴 덕분에 미국에서 가장 큰 온라인 식료품 전문점이다. Peapod는 FreshDirect가 시장 점유율을 80% 차지하고 있는 맨해튼에 진입하기를 기다렸고, FreshDirect를 따라잡기 위해 커피나 우유같은 제품을 매일 저렴한 가격 제공하며 무료 배송을 제공하고 있다. 

 Peapod의 성장은 2016년까지 Ahold의 글로벌 온라인 매출액을 20억 달러를 달성하는 데 기여할 것이며, 미국 소비자들은 온라인으로 식료품을 구매하는 데 210억 달러를 소비할 것이라고 Forrester Research는 예측했다. 뉴욕대의 비즈니스 대학 마케팅 교수 Tom Meyvis는 말한다. "Peapod이 할 수 있는 것은 고급 세그먼트에 덜 집중하고, 경쟁력있는 가격을 강조하는 것이다."

 Peapod은 맨해튼에 진입하는 것을 꺼려왔다. 그 이유는 교통체중과 엄격한 주차 법규로 밤에 배달을 해야했기 때문이다. 반면에 FreshDirect는 초기 2년간 주차비로만 60만 달러를 소비했다고 한다. 이러한 문제에도 불구하고, 맨해튼은 빽빽한 주차장, 웹을 능숙하게 활용하며 시간에 쫓기는 거주자들 덕분에 온라인 식료품 전문점 시장은 매력적이다.

 FreshDirect의 공동 설립자 David McInerney는 말한다. "신선한 제품으로 FreshDirect으로부터 경쟁우위를 확보할 것이다. 자연 식품 유통업체 Whole Foods Market와의 경쟁이 더 큰 문제다. "라고. FreshDirect은 맨해튼 인기 레스토랑 브랜드와 제휴하여 전자렌지용 식사 제품을 개발했고, 이는 바쁜 뉴요커들을 대상으로 한다.