Retail consulting firm Brick Meets Click forecasts online grocery sales will account for more than 8% of total grocery sales within the next five years.
Given that projection, the company expects online sales to grow 10 times faster than in-store sales in that time frame, according to a news release.
“Our forecast numbers show steady growth, and this supports the case for two important points,” partner David Bishop said in the release. “First, online grocery is already important and will become even more important in the near term, and second, the store will continue to be the place where grocers make most of their sales — but the growth of e-commerce puts even greater pressure on retailers to find ways to make this part of the business more profitable.”
In its forecast, the company considered pure-play online retailers and in-market providers of online ordering options, with the latter seeing much more room for growth.
“Brick Meets Click expects that in-market provider growth rates will vary from market to market, depending on the mixture of competitive options that are available,” Bishop said in the release. “In the top-50 markets, which account for 55% of the population, our assessment reveals that there are already 10 in-market services available on average.”
In a blog post about its forecast, Brick Meets Click noted that several factors give online room to grow.
Opportunities include improving search function and inventory listing to make sure shoppers can find everything they want; keeping the online options in line with what is actually available in real time for order fulfillment; and giving shoppers the option to use pickup or delivery services at a cost they find acceptable.
The company will discuss its projection further in a webinar for retailers and select suppliers May 10.