Coresight Research’s new annual survey explores the further development of the U.S. online grocery market.
This year, for the first time, the survey found that over half (52%) of all respondents had bought groceries online—more than double the shopper numbers from two years ago. Furthermore, 62.5% expect to buy groceries online in the next 12 months, likely supported by demand amid the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis.
This year, a total of 63% said they did “almost none” or “a small amount” of their grocery shopping online—down from 72% last year; a total of 14% did “most” or “all or almost all” of their grocery shopping online this year; and the remaining 23% did “some” of their grocery shopping online.
Amazon remains the most-shopped retailer, although the proportion of online grocery shoppers buying on Amazon.com remained flat year-over-year. However, the proportion buying from Walmart jumped by nearly 15 percentage points, to just over half of online grocery shoppers. Shoppers purchased from an average 2.3 retailers online this year vs. 1.8 in 2019.
Respondents also bought an average of five grocery categories online this year vs. 4.4 categories in last year’s survey, reflecting e-commerce’s shift from one-off product purchases to full-basket grocery shops of the kind that are undertaken in supermarkets.
In the past two years, home delivery has steadily crept ahead of collection, as measured by shopper numbers. Delivery now has a clear lead.
Coresight Research also estimates that e-commerce accounted for only around 2.6% of U.S. food and beverage retail sales in 2019. However, online sales are growing fast—by an estimated 22% in 2019—with the market growing by approximately 40% this year, supported by much higher growth during lockdowns. That would equate to almost $38 billion of online food and beverage sales in 2020, or around 3.5% of the total market.
