Retailers are becoming increasingly aware of the, need to and benefit of, developing app and mobile versions of their websites in order to reach more shoppers, more often.

IGD predicts that the online channel is set to more than double in value over the next five years. Investing in this market is therefore a necessity rather than a nice to do.

Young families and C2 shoppers are boosting online tablet grocery sales, says IGD Shopper Vista, the consumer goods research group. Whereas just over a year ago, in June 2013, tablet sales for groceries were at 16%, they have now reached 27%. The boost is also a result of online shoppers having increased access to tablet devices, highlighting the device’s growing familiarity and popularity. In June last year 44% of online grocery shoppers had access to a tablet, but today this figure is at 60%.

Most recently becoming aware of the requirement to invest in online is Shop Direct that is finally about to launch its first transactional apps across its range of brands. Until now Shop Direct had made do with the non-transactional, catalogue apps for the Isme, Very.co.uk, and Littlewoods brands, but now sees the potential for an app to improve the shopping experience. Jonathan Wall, Shop Direct’s group eCommerce director, said: “We think the customer is going to get a better shopping experience; … our customers have told us they feel more secure shopping within an app.”

Meanwhile for EBay, which has always been sold online, the next step revolves around people rather than technology. In the UK an item is bought every second by the eBay app with 9pm the peak time for sales, tells Retail week. It’s objective of bringing buyers and sellers together remains the same, the aim is to improve the experience they have together. Tanya Lawler, UK Managing Director of EBay says: “What we have become more involved in is making those experiences for buyers and sellers better everyday – we are making that experience more engaging, more convenient and more interesting. Adding: “The conversation has been around for a long time, whether you a call it CRM or personalisation”.

Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, said: online and convenience retailing are “reaping the rewards of our changing lifestyles. “With more of us owning smartphones and tablets, online grocery shopping is becoming more popular,” she said. External shopping tools are also helping to support mobile sales: “Retailers are also introducing more convenient and flexible services, such as temperature controlled ‘click & collect’ lockers for shoppers to pick up their groceries at a time and place that suits them,” Denney-Finch added.

Waitrose is one such grocer that is launching automated temperature-controlled lockers for customers to enable customers to collect the shopping they order online from a convenient location if they don’t have a store nearby. Shoppers who place an order on Waitrose.com will receive a text message with a PIN number, which they can enter on the touch screen integrated in the locker to collect their purchase. Phillips adds: “More and more people are adding an online shopping mission to their way of buying from Waitrose and we will continue to invest in making sure that we give them what they want, when they want it”.