Essay About Customer Input And Prearranged Timeframe

Freshdirect Case
Essay Preview: Freshdirect Case
Report this essay
FreshDirect was founded by Jason Ackerman and Joseph Fedele in the face of
bankruptcies of the first major online grocery companies, Web Wam and Home Grocer.
FreshDirect took notice of those failures, attributing them to overemphasis on rapid growth and
weak attention to customer input. The two founders originally segregated duties based on their
expertise, with Fedele concentrating on supplying the warehouses and Ackerman responsible
for delivery of orders to customers.
The secret to FreshDirects success, as Ackerman put it, is that it eliminates
intermediaries and wasteful processes. Orders are placed online and delivery of those orders
directly to the customer occur the following day.
The companys tag line and basic premise, “higher quality at lower prices”, is a self-
prescribed objective that FreshDirect delivers on through the combination of world-class
production centers and an online medium which is far less expensive to operate than renting
retail space. FreshDirect has also improved quality management through use of a centralized
manufacturing software system.
Unlike typical grocery stores, FreshDirects perishable products accounted for 75% of
the companys sales, as opposed to the traditional 50%. This resulted in faster turnover of
produce thereby improving freshness, but limited the variety of package goods.
The company also innovated different delivery models depending on the location of the
customer. Customers within the city would receive their groceries directly at their home or office
at a prearranged timeframe, whereas suburban customers would pick up their orders at a truck
stationed in their employers parking lot.