Compared to 2021, the overall online shopper user base increased in 2022 by three percentage points, while the online penetration of supermarkets declined by two percentage points over the same period, according to findings from Brick Meets Click/Mercatus, a grocery insights platform. The recently published report, “Profiling the Online Shopper: eGrocery Purchase Patterns in the U.S.,” collected responses from 42,000 consumers between 2021 and 2022 to find how shoppers' online tendencies have shifted.
“This analysis highlights the benefit to Supermarkets of better understanding who their core online customer segments are, and the value that different shopper segments represent to them,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click, in a statement. “The report provides evidence that can support recommending refinements to how Supermarkets compete online–especially against the lower-priced leaders in the market.”
Last year over half of all U.S. households ordered online groceries each month, but only one-third purchased from supermarkets. Walmart was one of the few leaders that started taking food dollars from the channel.
The report also found that, in 2022, the online shopper at supermarkets or Target tended to skew toward higher-income households, while discount store and Walmart online shoppers tended to have lower incomes: households earning under $50,000 a year accounted for only 30 percent of online shoppers at supermarkets and Target but accounted for over 40 percent of shoppers at Walmart and discount stores.
Findings suggest that high inflation may have accounted for all shoppers' changes in online shopping behavior. For example, households earning under $50,000 a year were 25 percent more likely to shop online with Walmart. Over this same period, supermarkets' reach in the income group fell, while Walmart's grew significantly.
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