Platform thinking and business of selling groceries online : assessing US and China based platforms

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, May, 2020Cataloged from the official version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 98-115).The business of selling fresh food to individual customers on an ecommerce platform is expected to be $40 billion USD sales generating industry by 2023¹. The online marketplace faces various challenges - a) low profit margins, b) changing consumer habits, c) the onerous task of managing customer experience on the site, and customer delivery experience in logistics, and d) massive scale of operations required to accomplish selling groceries online². What can emerging or even established fresh food ecommerce platforms learn from Walmarts, Amazons, Alibabas and JDs of the world? What are some of the challenges both existing and new players must address in a competitive market to delight customers, and win? The goal of the thesis is to introduce and assess Online Grocery space in the US and China, and understand and evaluate them on platform thinking, and growth strategies for the business. We conclude by looking at emergent trends in the space, especially as it relates to Covid-19, that has been a black swan event for the industry in general. Please note much of the document was written before the pandemic emerged.by Sarabjeet (Sabby) Singh.S.M. in Engineering and ManagementS.M.inEngineeringandManagement Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Progra