Food and Drink E-Commerce in Peru

2021 DEVELOPMENTS

Growth of food and drink e-commerce in 2021 continues but at a lower rate, driven by perceived benefits, a better service and health security

Food and drink e-commerce in Peru experienced extraordinary growth in 2020 as a consequence of the pandemic due to strict restrictions established to avoid contagion. People were allowed to go out to stock up on essential products despite the lockdown, such as food and beverages, which enabled supermarkets, hypermarkets, bodegas and discounters to continue operating.

Consumer willingness to use food and drinks e-commerce generates changes in purchasing habits and openness to different supply alternatives

This important development of food and drink e-commerce has generated changes in the way consumers buy, as they now prefer to visit stores less frequently and stock up to shop less often. This fits well with e-commerce with consumers making more planned purchases thanks to greater trust that staff in charge of supply will choose the appropriate fruit, vegetables, meats and other perishable foods.

Food and drink e-commerce is dynamic and features many players offering consumers a variety of options

The development of food and drink e-commerce began from the significant performance and innovation of modern grocery retailers specialised in these categories, especially hypermarkets and supermarkets that already had their own e-commerce platforms, and also implemented their own apps to be closer to the customer and facilitate purchase transactions. While at the beginning of the pandemic they had problems due to the explosive avalanche of orders for which they could not have been prepared, they nevertheless managed to make the necessary restructuring and investments to adequately face the demand and continue growing in 2021.

PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Food and drinks e-commerce continues to grow thanks to significant demand and high player dynamism

Food and drinks e-commerce will continue to grow in the forecast period at significant rates, although these will gradually slow down. This growth will be driven by both demand and offering, as consumers will be more familiar with this sales channel and more willing to use it due to its convenience, time savings, range of products and security, but especially in terms of access to offers and promotions.

Small traditional stores active in the dynamic food and drinks category provide orders via WhatsApp with delivery

Small traditional neighbourhood stores will also be more active in the dynamic world of food and drinks e-commerce in order to compete. Many will take advantage of their proximity to customers to offer them orders by WhatsApp and provide a free delivery service to their home.

High dynamism in food and drinks e-commerce due to active participation of several players with different additional options

The high dynamism in food and drinks e-commerce will generate high competition among an increasing number of players, who in turn will offer a good service while also innovate their value propositions for the end customer. These will include delivery apps, which in addition to providing delivery services for different types of retailers, including specialists in food and drinks, will also offer these categories themselves through their own dark stores.