Recently I have read several articles regarding the eventual decline and possible demise of grocery chains and chain restaurants directly related to online shopping and internet sales — basically, the elimination of millions of jobs due to the elimination of brick and mortar, free-standing businesses.

On the upside to this changing tide, millennials seem to value one-off boutique and craft-style establishments, feeling that they align more with what these consumers deem important, such as local and sustainable practices … mostly real and sometimes just perceived.

The monitoring of several large private equity groups is starting to show the unloading of thousands of nationally branded restaurants locations. This in an attempt to get ahead of the curve.

A key point raised in one article hit home for me. Did you know it has only been 12 years from the roll-out of the iPhone?

Look at how much consumer trends have changed! How Amazon, Walmart, Whole Foods and many more large players have tweaked their business models over the past five years to adapt to our changing times of online and delivery shopping.

There has been an interesting shift over the last decade regarding grocery shopping and dining out. Studies suggest that even though consumers are cooking four or five meals at home the shift comes in the form of immediate need-based replenishments verses the weekly stock-up grocery trips they used to make. New technology and increased e-based commerce accessibilities fill the bill for the lack of planning for meals. Consumer preferences for on-demand grocery delivery within two hours have shown a steady increase and will continue growing.

On the restaurant side of things, I see a continuing phenomenon happening with "ghost restaurants" or "virtual kitchens." They are companies that rent a small space to concentrate just on deliveries or test out a new concept for traction before investing a ton of money on brick and mortar. This is happening on a global scale.

Ousted Uber exec Travis Kalanik bought a London-based company and merged it with his Cloud Kitchens, raising $40 million+ from the Saudis, while Rebel Foods in India has 235 units from a raised $125 million. A German-based operation raised boatloads of money and is spreading sites all over Europe. Delivery businesses like DoorDash and GrubHub are adopting “ghost kitchens” as well. In this strategic move, DoorDash collects rent on one end and extracting commissions on the end-user side; talk about hedging your bets. The times they are a-changing in this $35 billion-and-growing business.

I guess this all begs the question, have you and your family adopted any of these new buying habits?

Live well … Wishing you all happy holidays and a fantastic New Year!

What will the future bring?

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