How do I check a specialty grocer’s online ordering and pickup setup?
Place a few test orders yourself and follow them through: ordering, picking, packing, pickup and payment. Note the time, errors and how staff cope during busy periods. Then ask who owns the website, accounts and customer list, how orders are tracked, and what part of the sales it represents.
Do the experience as a customer would. Order several items, choose pickup, and see how clear the site is about stock, substitutions and timing. At the shop, watch the handoff. Is there a staging area? Who assembles the orders, and do they pull staff from the floor at a busy hour? Missing items and long waits are the problems customers remember, so ask how many complaints arrive and how staff answer them.
Then look behind the scenes. Ask for sales reports that separate online from in-store sales, refund and complaint records, and the fees paid to payment processors and any platform. Ask whether the website, domain, accounts and customer list are in the business’s name, or in the personal name of the owner or a former contractor.
Finally, think about what happens when you take over. Ask how stock is kept up to date, how the site links to the till, and whether anyone depends on a particular setup. Ask your lawyer to confirm who owns the accounts and what terms apply to customer information. Your accountant can help you see what online orders really cost to fulfil.
Key takeaways
- Place real test orders and watch how the shop picks, packs and hands them over.
- Ask for online sales, refunds, complaints and fees reported separately.
- Confirm that the website, accounts and customer list belong to the business.
Related reading
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
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