The century of b2b and b2c seems definitely over. Are you ready for the b2me economy?
The customer journey in the world of eating, drinking and sleeping is undergoing a rigorous metamorphosis. The world-wide lockdown gives the final push. The end of b2b and b2c is just around the corner. Get ready for b2me: meeting the need of professional and consumer at the right moment and the right place.
Everything becomes fluid under pressure. And we certainly saw that this year. All sacred cows in the food service and hospitality industry seemed to disappear like ‘smog before Mount Everest’. Factories suddenly deliver direct to consumers and catering enterprises are now making customer deliveries on a massive scale. The normally closed bastions of wholesalers are wide open for the ordinary catering guest. Exclusivity is no longer bonded to locations and moments. All products and services are accessible to everyone.
But those who look closely, know: it's been going on for some time. The lockdown of the COVID-19 epidemic just gave that last nudge. For the good citizen has been seeing business opportunities for years. Airbnb became the largest hotel chain in the world, thuisafgehaald.nl snatched away a market share, and any hobby cook can start a home restaurant. If you have a spare room, you can rent it out online: to sleep or eat in, or hold a meeting. Now that we have had a taste of local entrepreneurship, it's difficult to let it go. Why not, as a catering professional, expand your services in your own neighbourhood? Dare to take on the supermarket and claim your community function!
Not everything that we see in Barcelona, London, or Amsterdam works in your surroundings. If you really understand your guests, you know how to make the right decisions. Don't let yourself be led astray by all those trend watchers, concept gurus and big brands. Use your sound business sense and dare to choose.
Because whoever chooses, is chosen. Leave the brand circus to the supermarkets. Get brands to work for you, not the other way round. Whereas previously we in the catering sector had been completely obedient for years and conceptual uniformities formed, now is the moment where we can really make a difference.
That's not always so easy to do. Sometimes you can't see the concept through all the brands any more. But when you define your target group clearly, you also know which brands best fit it. The right partners are certainly crucial in times of crisis. Who was immediately there for you and which supplier really engages with you for the long term? For now seems to be the moment! Catering is suddenly at the very centre of society and can become that social hub that we've been writing about for years. Retail and catering will have a healthy marriage. The b2meconomy brings supply and demand together and opens up opportunities.
In the b2me-conomy, the focus is on the consumer and the professional. We say goodbye to b2b and b2c thinking. Together we shape the new catering landscape where we can build on adaptive concepts that are prominent both on- and offline. The catering entrepreneur that starts their own bricks-and-mortar shop and webshop, the five-star hotel that becomes a workplace for local professionals, the local specialist who takes a step forward, and the supermarkets that continue to make strides at a rapid pace in the food service sector. The path to 2022 is full of uncertainties. But also full of opportunities. Keep them in sight and realise: our sector has existed since time immemorial and this crisis only proves its worth once more ...
