Online grocery sales are taking a breather after record volume during the pandemic in 2020. Monthly sales in June reached $6.8 billion which is still not small change. It’s not surprising to see a slowdown for any online sales category as shoppers are returning to stores.
A continuing online ordering trend finds curbside pickup become more popular with consumers compared to home delivery. This is good news for grocers since last-minute delivery of online orders is costly. Meanwhile, consumers save time and delivery fees when they opt for store pick-up. How much this impacts 3rd party delivery companies remains to be seen.
The following excerpt from a Grocery Dive article reports more on the topic:
- U.S. consumers bought $6.8 billion worth of groceries online in June, according to the latest monthly survey from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus. That’s a 23% decline from the same period last year and down 3% compared to May 2021.
- In all, 63.5 million U.S. households bought groceries online during the month, a 12% drop from June 2020. Pickup and delivery sales accounted for $5.3 billion, while ship-to-home sales accounted for $1.5 billion, according to the survey conducted June 27 to 28.
- E-commerce sales are continuing to decline as expected, but notable trends stand out in the report, including pickup’s continued rise in popularity and the emergence of mass retail as a top competitor for grocers.
- Although monthly e-commerce sales continue to fall both sequentially and year-over-year, top trends are starting to firm up among the millions of consumers still shopping for groceries online, including the channel’s most active users.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Merchant Services at Mercator Advisory Group