Food in e-commerce: HONEST CATCH's recipe for success

E-commerce in the food sector has its own challenges, from the cold chain to the handling of fresh and chilled products. For HONEST CATCH, overcoming these challenges while creating an exceptional customer experience was crucial.

Amrei Stäbler tells us how a successful online shop in the food & beverage sector can look in practice. As Head of E-Commerce & Marketing at HONEST CATCH, she is responsible for branding, performance marketing and organic marketing channels, as well as everything else related to the website. Together with her, we take a look behind the scenes of HONEST CATCH's Shopify store and see what really matters for a successful implementation.

Honest seafood: Enjoy with a clear conscience

HONEST CATCH initially operated as a B2B company catering to restaurants, hotels, and select supermarkets. However, it has since expanded its offerings to include high-quality seafood for individual consumers. The idea: sustainable seafood from environmentally friendly fishing in restaurant quality. "At HONEST CATCH, you can find fish and seafood from selected producers from all over the world - from Bavarian garneau, which is farmed by our sister company Oceanloop just outside Munich, to organic lachs from particularly sustainable, antibiotic-free and GMO-free aquaculture in Norway, everything that makes seafood fans' hearts beat faster," explains Amrei.

In the B2C sector, HONEST CATCH's online shop is the heart of the distribution system, enabling consumers to conveniently order frozen fish and seafood in restaurant quality - directly to their doorstep. A success model, as it turns out.

HONEST CATCH Online-Shop

Challenges in food e-commerce

The seafood company offers a diverse range of products, including freshly caught lobster, delectable mussels, and a variety of chilled and frozen items, in addition to dried products. This extensive range presents Amrei and her team with numerous challenges and obstacles that must be addressed daily. "In my opinion, food is the king's discipline in e-commerce," says Amrei. "The supply and delivery of perishable goods alone presents companies in the food industry with much greater challenges than those faced by the fashion industry, for example."

The HONEST CATCH promise: "Honest seafood, in uncompromising quality" - yet the brand relies almost exclusively on online sales in the B2C sector. How does this fit together and how does HONEST CATCH meet the challenges? "It is important to constantly question the underlying processes (both internally and with external service providers) in order to deliver perfect quality in optimised packaging to our customers, but also to avoid food waste in the form of unsaleable goods," explains Amrei. For HONEST CATCH, this includes the following aspects in particular:

#1 Show emotion and build trust

Checking out the shelves, getting inspiration and examining the goods carefully before buying - these things are commonplace in supermarkets, but not so easy to do online. "Buying food has a lot to do with promises of quality, trust and inspiration. In the traditional supermarket, you can check out the products, make your choice and be inspired by the range and special offers. Online, trust in the product, product quality and secure delivery to the customer's home must first be established," says Amrei. To gain the trust of customers and establish an emotional connection, HONEST CATCH employs various strategies: "A web shop that conveys emotions, showcases products with detailed information, offers recipes and preparation tips curated by experts, and addresses any remaining doubts through customer reviews and transparency is crucial in this regard."

Communication with customers also plays a decisive role. HONEST CATCH is committed to transparency regarding the origin, quality and sustainability of its products.

#2 Create the perfect customer experience with Shopify Plus

In addition to emotion and trust, there is one thing that stands at the top of the list for an online shop: Performance. A fast loading time and strong usability are crucial for the user experience and a successful online shop.

HONEST CATCH made the decision to migrate to Shopify Plus as part of a rebrand. When migrating at the beginning of last year, flexibility, stability and the ability to customise were key for the brand. Amrei adds: "We wanted to improve the shopping experience with our seafood online shop and make our service and advice even more emotional beyond the mere purchase. It quickly became clear that we wanted a flexible, stable and customisable shop system with Shopify Plus."

"With Shopify Plus, we were able to create the exact shopping experience that would add value for our customers and turn the joy of eating into a digital experience," continues Amrei. The platform enabled HONEST CATCH to realise its vision of an engaging and user-friendly online store.

#3 Quality also online

As well as an attractive shopping experience, customers also want to know that their products are of the highest quality and safety. "We mainly offer frozen products that need to be in the customer's freezer as soon as possible after delivery to ensure the cold chain. Amrei is addressing one of the company's biggest challenges: maintaining the correct temperature during the transport and storage of frozen products to ensure their quality and safety.

HONEST CATCH Seafood

Amrei explains: "To ensure refrigeration, dry ice bags and recyclable thermal insulation are used in the sustainable shipping boxes. This ensures that goods from different temperature zones, such as uncooled pasta or wine, as well as frozen goods down to minus 18 degrees, always arrive fresh and in one parcel to the customer."

#4 Freshness on demand

Many have experienced the inconvenience of parcels being delivered at inconvenient times or ending up at a neighbor's due to missed deliveries. This is especially a problem when it comes to chilled or even frozen goods. To solve this problem, HONEST CATCH offers its customers the option of choosing a preferred date in the checkout, so that they can personally collect their parcel after 24 or 48 hours for deliveries to Switzerland.

#5 Click & Collect

"Many customers from Munich and the surrounding area also like to use our Click & Collect service," says Amrei. With a small shop in the heart of Munich or the Bavarian shrimp farm in Langenpreising, HONEST CATCH also offers the option of picking up the ordered goods in person, combining online and retail in a very unique way. "The integration of the date picker in combination with different holidays and delivery dates within the D-A-CH region as well as the possibility to pre-order the goods for collection via Click & Collect and preferred collection windows brings a certain complexity, but thanks to Shopify Plus we were able to solve it optimally," says Amrei.

#6 Sustainable shipping

"Sustainability and uncompromising quality are not only important to us when it comes to seafood. HONEST CATCH products are selected and carefully packaged by trained professionals. We use corrugated cardboard, an ecological product made from recycled waste paper that can be reused at any time," says Amrei. She is thus addressing one of the current issues in online retailing: Sustainability. "This is why we ship our specialities exclusively in highly efficient, thermally insulated recycling boxes, in collaboration with GO! Express & Logistics."

An online shop offers many opportunities - but does not solve all problems

However, this does not mean that all challenges and problems are solved. Whether it is food or fashion, an online store needs to be constantly optimised to meet the needs of customers and improve the shopping experience.

Amrei points out: "There are always a lot of requests and we want to constantly optimise and develop our online shop". Sometimes it is necessary to weigh up whether emotionality or performance is more important in the shop. "Despite the challenges, it's a privilege to bring pleasure to life every day and enrich the world of our customers with many culinary experiences."

Bringing delight with Shopify: Making the experience enjoyable

What is commonplace in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle sectors is often still in its infancy in the food industry. While e-commerce offers significant opportunities across all sectors, it also presents numerous challenges. Despite unique challenges, HONEST CATCH primarily depends on online B2C sales, leading to Amrei's final and most crucial statement: "Despite this high level of complexity that the food industry brings with it, I believe that as foodies who love indulgence & stand behind our products, we can do one of the best jobs: Namely, to make enjoyment a daily experience & to enrich our customers' plates with many tasty treats with great products."