ONLINE GROCERIES: Part of a slogan pictured on the side of a Tesco supermarket delivery truck in London. Food has been one of the last things to move online because complex logistics for fresh, chilled and frozen products make it an expensive business. — Reuters
BERLIN: Big retailers are taking a calculated hit to margins to invest in online grocery operations, in the hope they can persuade consumers to add more profitable items like clothes and computers to their orders of fruit and vegetables.
Food has been one of the last things to move online because complex logistics for fresh, chilled and frozen products make it an expensive business. Retailers are also reluctant to lose the potential for the lucrative impulse buys that occur in-store.
