Acosta Group is out with its annual online grocery shopping study, concluding that there has been “a slight uptick in online grocery shopping over last year, with 55% of grocery shoppers buying groceries online at least some of the time. This upward trend is driven by more consumers who are shopping online regularly but still shopping mostly in-store.”
“We learned in this year’s study that frequent online grocery shoppers are up to 50% more likely to purchase perishables such as breads & pastries, dairy, produce and frozen for pick-up or delivery, which we attribute to a higher level of trust and familiarity with the fulfillment processes,” said Kathy Risch, SVP Consumer Insights and Trends, Acosta Group.”
Risch added, “We’ve seen that post-pandemic, consumers have returned to in-store shopping, and they want a seamless omnichannel experience where all items online are available at the same price as in store, and all items in store are available for pickup and delivery.”
According to the study, “When it comes to placing an order, 49% of online shoppers are starting at a retailer’s website or app with their lists, and 85% (90% of higher income shoppers) are using digital coupons.
“For grocery pickup shoppers, 80% are also going into the store when picking up their order, either because they forgot to purchase an item online or they prefer to personally select specific items. This is a 10% increase over last year, reflecting consumers’ growing desire to have the in-store experience as well as the convenience of online shopping and pickup.”
The study goes on: “As expected, convenience is highly valued when it comes to pickup and delivery fulfillment of online orders. Most online grocery shoppers (63%) will consistently use one type of fulfillment method.
“Younger online grocery shoppers are heavy users of each – using delivery services at twice the rate of Boomers. The favored delivery providers are Instacart and Walmart+, followed by Prime, DoorDash and Uber Eats, with high satisfaction levels for these services … A key takeaway for brands and retailers: three in four Gen Z and Millennials are placing small orders for a single meal or recipe, reflecting a familiarity and comfort with the use and cost of delivery services.”
A conclusion: “According to the Acosta Group study, 84% of online grocery shoppers report high satisfaction with the online grocery shopping experience. This is encouraging news as it’s estimated that online grocery sales will nearly double to $342B by the end of 2027, according to Insider Intelligence-Digital Grocery Buyers 2023.”
The study was unveiled yesterday at GroceryShop.
KC’s View:
We may not be in a period of high growth for e-grocery, but in some ways that is just a momentary thing, impacted by economic uncertainties and following a period of strong growth during the pandemic. That said, it would appear that the heavy usage by young people and high satisfaction levels point to a future in which steady growth and high penetration for e-grocery become a reality.
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