The U.S. online grocery market grew 8.7 percent last month compared to last year, totaling $9.3 billion in sales in August, as households prepared for the back-to-school season, according to a survey from Brick Meets Click/Mercatus fielded August 30-31.
Household demand for grocery pickup and ship-to-home was strong during the month, while delivery experienced a slowdown in order volume. Mass retailers like Walmart and Target continued to attract more customers than supermarkets.
Findings also indicated that cross-shopping rates between grocery and mass increased by 4.9 percentage points compared to last year, finishing at 34 percent. This is the highest rate of cross-shopping seen.
Other key findings:
• More households are buying groceries online, with a roughly five percent expansion of monthly active users in August compared to a year ago.
• Overall digital grocery order volume for August 2023 grew five percent versus 2022, driven by the expansion of the monthly active user base rather than a change in order frequency by these users.
• Mass and supermarket formats continue to perform very differently: the monthly active userbase for mass surged by almost 20 percent in August while supermarkets contracted by more than 10 percent.
Related: Giant Food Modifies Ecommerce Offerings; Plant-Based Growth Stalls for Some Categories: SFA Report
Image: Brick Meets Click