Last week we talked about how shoppers of all ages are embracing buying their groceries online and how important it is for retailers to keep this in mind when building food shopping experiences. This week, we want to explore why focusing on those experiences is so important.

Everyone has read about Jeff Bezos' exit, as he hands over the leadership of the world's largest e-commerce retailer. We admire him for his persistent view on the user experience (Wall Street Journal).

Success from customer focus cannot be something that comes and goes. As PwC identifies, it takes just two or three negative interactions for consumers to abandon a brand. Mark Rogers, VP of Growth at Northfork, emphasises this:

"Put simply, experience is EVERYTHING. Just because a retailer has a clever app, or an exciting new product line, doesn't mean it can stop focusing on the basics. Retailers need to provide a shopping experience that makes it easy and enjoyable for customers to fill their baskets. Then back that up with on-time deliveries that include everything the customer ordered. These are the fundamentals that will result in loyal, long-term customers."

Kearney sums this up as retailers needing to focus on segmentation, value proposition and shopper engagement. These are the three cornerstones of a successful online food strategy being customer-centric.

So a lesson that we can learn from Amazon's Jeff Bezos, is that creating a marriage between tech and innovation should be at the core of building business. At the same time, an obsession with getting to know customers is essential to the delivery of seamless experiences.