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The food industry is the hottest thing in ecommerce. Food ecommerce sites are expected to continue thriving, even after everyone gets back to work and COVID becomes a distant memory. Thanks to convenient food ecommerce websites, consumers are eager to continue conveniently getting delicious food products delivered to their doorstep.
The Statista Digital Market Outlook predicts that food ecommerce will dominate the United States online shopping activity, growing to $35.7 billion, potentially making up to 20% of all online sales.
Choosing the top 10 e-commerce websites is a very subjective exercise. However, the list of ecommerce companies below represents exceptional examples of well-planned and executed food selling websites:
You may be wondering what products to sell online from home when it comes to the ecommerce food business. Here are a few examples of food products that do well all year long:
Unfortunately, many of these items are already sold on numerous websites. Many of these items are also forbidden for cottage or home-based food entrepreneurs to sell. However, if you can differentiate your own creation, you still have a good chance of selling your premade items to a public constantly looking for something new that's good to eat.
Let's discuss what homemade food entrepreneurs should include in their website. Choosing a food ecommerce website template can give you a leg up by providing a pre-designed layout to help you place your graphics and content in a visually appealing way.
Fortunately, there are many food website templates free for users to try. So, you can choose one that you like, play around with it for a while and move on to another free template if it doesn't work out. You will have learned a lot about what looks good and what doesn't with your products without spending any money.
Below we provide examples of online food ordering website templates with a free download. Another good idea is to check out the competition by reviewing the local e commerce websites of your competitors. When considering an online food shop template free download make sure that the layout is mobile-friendly. It doesn't matter if something is free if it won't work for consumers shopping on their tablets or cell phones.
Even if you are running your business from home, it's a good idea to look for food manufacturing website templates. They may have free trial periods and they'll give you a good idea of what large players in the field are doing.
Here are a few low or no-cost websites featuring online food businesses you can run from home:
Food ecommerce websites are also cropping up across the world. India is a particular hotspot as you'll see in the next section.
In India, the online grocery market may reach $ 18.2 billion by 2024. Compare that to $2 billion in 2019, that’s a 57% CAGR. Food e commerce websites in India increased their order volume 36% in the last three months of 2020 alone.
E commerce food delivery is one of the hottest trends among the top-ranking food and drink websites in India. Bigbazaar.com is the top grocery site in the country while restaurant and delivery services such as swiggy.com and zamato.com have also seen tremendous growth. Bigbasket.com is another up and coming star among Indian e commerce sites.
With the pandemic keeping everyone at home, the e commerce industry in India 2020 exploded. After Reliance Industries (RIL) entering the online market, food selling websites in India grew exponentially. E commerce Indian companies consisted mainly of big players such as Walmart but the list of e commerce companies in India also included companies such as JioMart.
Grocery e commerce websites in India battled with e commerce food companies in India offering at-home delivery. The total projected market for Indian internet companies is expected to reach $112 billion by FY25.
It's hard to imagine that prior to the pandemic many food and beverage manufacturers had no direct online ecommerce channels. E commerce in food industry now includes brands that could only be found in supermarket aisles prior to the shift to online sales.
It’s estimated that when the pandemic started, only about half of food and beverage companies had any online presence at all. However, food e-commerce growth is on a meteoric rise. This makes it possible for those who dream of making their food items at home and selling them to actually realize their dream.
Business opportunities in the food and beverage industry are ready for those who want to take the leap into creating an online website and selling their goods online. After all, some of the biggest names in consumer packaged goods now sell a large percentage of their goods online, including PepsiCo and Nestle. Even though they only made 10% of their revenue online in 2019, that figure reached 44% by 2020.
Food and beverage e-commerce sales have begun to reach users worldwide In a 2020 FMCG Gurus survey where 80% of those surveyed said they wanted to eat and drink healthy products. This led to an upsurge in online foods that were rich in nutrients. The impact of ecommerce on food industry is that now consumers can get not only pre-packaged food delivered to their home; they can get healthy meals and ingredients through the growth of e-commerce in food service, as witnessed by the growth of ecommerce in food industry in India.
Let's take a look at food ecommerce trends that you can take advantage of from home.
Food ecommerce trends include vegan and meat free in mainstream demand. People want to eat healthier and the climate crisis has raised awareness of not only health goals but looking for ways to keep the impact of our food sources small. Trends in the food and beverage industry 2020 include health foods and convenience cooking.
For those who want to start food ecommerce companies from home, this process could include making healthy baked goods, alternatives to traditional foods, or snacks for busy parents and families. Nielsen data indicates that meat alternative food sales rose 129% since 2019.
The advantages of e-commerce in food industry are seen across a number of dietary preferences and food categories. One example of this is for vegans and vegetarians that didn't already have a source of ready-made meals. Food ecommerce is making it easier for people with special diets to order and find local food artisans who are catering to their dietary needs. Socially conscious brands can take advantage of this niche which is still largely unexplored.
Another surprise for the ecommerce food business may be the willingness of consumers to try new things. Lumina Intelligence reports that one out of five consumers switched from shopping in-store to online shopping during the pandemic. These food e-commerce statistics underscore the need for more investment in this area.
With more people shopping online for food than ever before, it's not only big box retailers who will benefit. For those who have homemade cookies, cakes and prepared meals shipped in the right packaging, this market has opened up dramatically.
Digital trends in the food and beverage industry are ever-evolving. It remains to be seen how strong this will remain once we are well past COVID. However, technology rarely moves backwards. Now that consumers are used to ordering their food online and picking it up at the grocery store or arranging for delivery, they may not be willing to go back anytime soon.
What are the best food products to sell online? The best products to sell online 2021 are homemade items with attractive packaging and distinctive characteristics that are hard to duplicate. Every food business should have a differentiating feature that helps you stand out from other makers on store shelves or on Instagram.
Food items are some of the most profitable products to sell online, and selling homemade food online allows you to reach a growing niche market.
You can make a living selling breads, cookies, and cakes, or you can grow organic vegetables and fruits to sell online to local consumers. If you have the right packaging, you may be able to ship them farther afield.
With the passage of more flexible cottage food laws, many states allow food artisans to sell non-hazardous food that you make at home. This has opened up doors for local food producers and home chefs who want to make a living from their passion. This is also a great way to support local economies, which people love.
Here are some of the top foods that artisans can produce at home and sell online:
So, what are you waiting for? Take advantage of the growing food ecommerce market today!
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The Cake Whisperer
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Easy to start, created specifically for local, handmade food: Castiron’s website builder was created to help you grow. Create a website in minutes with our templates, sell where and how your customers want to buy, and look professional without being technical. Keep customers coming back with email marketing tools, customer records, and more.
Food entrepreneurs, this is your moment. Your community is more and more conscious about what they buy and where it is from. They want food made with love. With ingredients they can pronounce. And they want to support their community while doing it.
Castiron is the best fit for your food business because we're not a one-size-fits-all tool. Selling local food is different from pre-packaged warehouse products. Whether you sell cooking classes, need local pick up, utilize pre-sales to plan inventory, or need a fully custom order form — we got you.
No code required. Add pages, sell your products, build order forms, and show off your beautiful work. We'll handle the tech so you can focus on growing your food business.
Never track down a payment or oversell products again. Real-time inventory tracking and secure payment processing make life easier for you and your customers, and our order form builder makes managing custom requests a breeze.
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