Forty-one percent of consumers who buy groceries online say they include fresh produce in their orders, according to the U.S. Online Grocery Shopper Study by Retail Feedback Group.
“It appears that shopping online for fresh items is now a more accepted part of the online grocery shopping experience,” RFG principals Brian Numainville and Doug Madenberg said in a news release. “This growth may be a combination of a broader cross-section of shoppers engaging in online shopping, as well as more experience by online providers in successfully meeting the expectations of consumers in these departments.
“At the same time, among those shoppers not giving top marks for meeting standards for quality and freshness, produce is the department with the highest percentage of mentions (45%),” Numainville and Madenberg said.
The number of people using grocery pickup and delivery services is expected to continue to grow in 2020. RFG found that, among the 1,000 online grocery shoppers polled, 54% plan to purchase groceries online as much as they did this year, while 41% plan to purchase groceries online more often in 2020.
Nearly half of the respondents indicated they mostly shop in-store for groceries and occasionally shop online, while 32% said they shop online and in-store about equally, and 20% reported they shop mostly or only online for groceries, according to the release.
Amazon leads all providers in overall satisfaction (4.60 out of 5), followed by Walmart (4.45) and traditional supermarkets (4.43). However, more people tried ordering online at Walmart and supermarkets for the first time this year — 18% of respondents who used Walmart said it was their first time with the service, and the number for supermarkets was 22%.
“As Walmart increases their focus on online grocery shopping, it appears to be resulting in more trial given the surge in shoppers reporting using Walmart for their most recent online grocery shopping experience, beating out Amazon,” Numainville said in the release. “At the same time, supermarkets/food stores also appear to be gaining ground in increased overall satisfaction, as compared to last year, and now register the highest percentage of first-time users, showing positive momentum for the channel.”
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