June 14, 2022

“2022 U.S. Online Grocery Survey” by Coresight report found that 54.3% of American adults had shopped online in the past 12 months, well above 36.9% in the pre-pandemic year 2019, but down from 59% in the 2021 survey.

The study, reported by Supermarket News, further found that 46.9% planned to buy groceries online in the next 12 months, compared to 49.5% who said so in Coresight’s 2021 survey.

“The decline in intent to purchase via e-commerce means that online grocery shopping has largely stabilized from its pandemic highs, albeit at higher levels than before the pandemic,” wrote Coresight in the study.

On the positive side, the survey showed that more and more consumers are adopting their preferred shopping method online.

Customers doing the bulk of their grocery shopping online rose to 28.3% (almost all/all, 11.8%; most, 16.5%) in Coresight’s 2022 survey. This compares to 24.7% (almost all/all, 10%; most, 14.7%) in 2021 and 14% (almost all/all, 4.3%; most, 9.7%) in 2020.

“This indicates that the online channel is now capturing a significant share of full-basket grocery shoppers,” Coresight observed.

A new investigation IMF found that half of online food shoppers shop online every two weeks or more. In 2015, only 7% said they had ordered groceries online in the past 30 days.

Convenience and value, including avoiding impulse purchases in-store, were seen as big selling points for online grocery shopping. Sixty-two percent of online shoppers believe shopping online saves more time than shopping in person, while 40% say online is better than in person at helping them discover new products.

Yet 43% of grocery shoppers polled in the IMF survey believe they get better quality products when shopping in-store, compared to just 17% who feel the same about shopping in-store. line. Even those who shop online at least some of the time said 70% of their grocery shopping is done in person.