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Share of U.S. shoppers buying groceries online stabilizes

Coresight Research survey reveals increases in pickup users and higher-volume purchases

Russell Redman

May 16, 2022

3 Min Read
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The percentage of online grocery shoppers receiving their orders via pickup came in at 48.2% in 2022, up from 43% in 2021, Coresight found.Walmart

Momentum in the U.S. online grocery market has continued to tail off since the boom triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study from Coresight Research shows.

Of nearly 2,100 U.S. adults polled, 54.3% had purchased groceries online in the past 12 months, down from 59% a year ago, according to Coresight’s “U.S. Online Grocery Survey 2022” report, released Monday. What’s more, 46.9% said they plan to buy groceries online in the next 12 months, a decrease from the 49.5% who planned to do so in the 2021 survey. That marked the second straight year in which customer expectations for the upcoming 12 months were below actual behavior in the past year.

“The drop in intent to shop through e-commerce signifies that online grocery shopping has largely stabilized from its pandemic highs, albeit at higher levels than pre-pandemic times,” New York-based retail industry research firm Coresight stated in the study.

The results still contain positives in terms of growth in the e-grocery shopping arena, Coresight noted. For example, the report said, the 54.3% of consumers who bought groceries online in 2022 is 4.8 percentage points higher than the 49.5% of respondents in 2021 who said they expected to purchase groceries online in the next 12 months. The 2022 percentage of online grocery purchasers, too, remained above the percentages for 2020 (52%) and the pre-pandemic period in 2019 (36.8%).

Related:Falloff in delivery pulls down April online grocery sales

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Coresight also found that the share of customers doing the bulk of their grocery shopping online has grown nearly 4 percentage points. In 2022, 28.3% of those polled did most (16.5%) or almost all/all (11.8%) of their grocery shop online, compared with 24.7% (most 14.7%, almost all/all 10%) in 2021 and 14% (most 9.7%, almost all/all 4.3%) in 2020.

“This indicates that the online channel now captures a meaningful share of full-basket grocery shoppers,” Coresight observed. Indeed, on the flip side, 48.9% of e-grocery customers reported doing “almost none” (16.7%) or “a small amount” (32.2%) of their grocery shopping online in 2022, down from 55.3% in 2021 and 63.1% in 2020.

The percentage of online grocery shoppers receiving their orders via pickup came in at 48.2% in 2022, up from 43% in 2021, Coresight found. Delivery usage declined with 49% of respondents receiving orders that way in 2022 versus 55.5% in 2021.

“It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the shift to e-commerce, leading to a dramatic spike in online grocery shopping,” Coresight explained in its report. “Coresight Research estimates that the market will expand by a healthy 32.4% year over year in 2022, after observing 17.9% growth in 2021 and 94.4% growth in 2020. Growth will be supported by the retention of pandemic-induced behaviors in the online channel. Retailers should look to build on pandemic-driven trends and position themselves for longer-term growth.

Related:Grocery comes of age as ‘major’ online retail category

In 2022, online grocery shoppers made their purchases from 2.4 retailers on average, about the same as 2.5 in 2021 and 2.3 in 2020, but well above the 1.8 ion 2019.

Among retailers, Amazon and Walmart were by far the most-shopped retailers for online grocery customers, cited by 51.6% and 50.5% of 2022 survey respondents, respectively, who made a purchase with those operators in the pat 12 months. Rounding out the top 10 most-shopped online grocery retailers, Coresight said, were Target (25.5%), Sam’s Club (16.1%), Costco Wholesale (15.7%), The Kroger Co. (13.6%), Whole Foods Market (13.1%), Aldi (8.4%), Publix (7.1%) and Albertsons/Safeway (7%).

“Our 2022 survey found that the major retailers saw lower proportions of respondents buy groceries from them in the past 12 months, compared to in 2021,” Coresight said in the study. “Compared to 2020, Amazon saw the largest decline in online grocery shoppers, of 11 percentage points. The share of Walmart — the second-most-shopped retailer — also declined, albeit to a lesser extent. Other omnichannel retailers such as Albertsons, Costco and Target saw an increase in online grocery shoppers compared to 2020, at the expense of Amazon and Walmart."

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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