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Walmart flexes its grocery muscle in e-commerce

Study: Retail giant is swiftly winning over online shoppers

Russell Redman

December 21, 2018

2 Min Read
Walmart
Walmart

Walmart is quickly extending its grocery dominance in brick-and-mortar into the online realm.

Consumer market researcher Packaged Facts said Thursday that 23% of online grocery consumers cited Walmart as the retailer they use most for groceries. That’s second only to Amazon, named by 38% of purchasers, according to Packaged Facts’ “U.S. Grocery Market Focus: The Walmart Shopper” report.

About 27% of in-store grocery purchasers said Walmart is the brick-and-mortar retailer they get groceries from most — over two times as many as Kroger, the next most cited retailer, the study revealed.

In a relatively short time, Walmart has transformed itself into an omnichannel retailer by accelerating investment in e-commerce to develop a seamless shopping experience between its massive store base and digital properties, Packaged Facts noted. What’s more, Walmart has turned its thousands of stores — an apparent cost disadvantage versus pure-play online retailers — into a competitive strength in distribution, the researcher said.

For example, Walmart has already reaped dividends from its swift rollout of online grocery pickup. Of click-and-collect consumers surveyed this summer by Packaged Facts, 42% identified Walmart as the pickup location for their last order. Loyal Walmart online grocery buyers also are 30% more likely than the average e-grocery consumer to cite in-store pickup/curbside service as a chief factor in choosing an online grocery retailer.

Related:Walmart helps customers buy online in-store

Packaged Facts said loyal Walmart online grocery purchasers, too, are 75% less apt to name subscription/repeat ordering services as a factor in picking an online grocery provider. That’s an area where Walmart may need to improve, the researcher noted, since customers of rival Amazon are 45% more likely to deem subscription/repeat ordering services as a key factor.

By the close of its 2019 fiscal year at the end of January, Walmart expects to have 2,140 online grocery pickup sites, covering 69% of U.S. households, and online grocery delivery through 800 stores, covering about 40% of the population. The retailer is targeting about 3,100 curbside pickup and 1,600 delivery locations by the end of fiscal 2020.

Walmart recently said it expects to achieve its goal of 40% growth in U.S. e-commerce sales for fiscal 2019, and the company projects 35% growth for fiscal 2020.

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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