Automating shopping for consumer goods

: the potential of IoT-enabled replenishments as a new business model in FMCG

Abstract

Consumers increasingly value convenience and innovation when it comes to purchasingdecisions. Companies are aware that technology and digitalization play an important role inindividuals’ lives. In FMCG this trend is visible through increasing E-Commerce sales. Thenext step for online and offline retailers and manufacturers to increase market share is toautomate repurchasing by offering replenishment solutions. Through IoT technology devicesare smart. They can interact and communicate when a product is running low so that thepurchase is automatically initiated without the customer manually ordering.This thesis elaborates on how a replenishment technology can constitute a new business modelin FMCG and if it has the potential to become a commonly used model. The research consistsof several expert interviews and an online survey. Both methods seek to evaluate thedevelopment of such a model; from the consumer’s perspective and from industry and topicalexperts’ perspectives. The results reveal that consumers are not ready yet to replaceconventional shopping, especially when it comes to certain types of products. Additionally, thetechnology is not fully ready yet for replenishments to take over physical and online shopping.However, certain products in FMCG are suitable to run on such a model and it is likely, thatwith progressing digitalization and consumer acceptance the model will develop further andfind its way into the individuals’ everyday lives.

Date of Award	27 Jan 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Peter V. Rajsingh (Supervisor) & André de Almeida Pinho (Co-Supervisor)