The most popular online grocery retailer is not a grocer, strictly speaking.
The national Online Grocery Shopping During Covid-19 survey from San Francisco-based fresh grocery delivery service Good Eggs reveals 56% of respondents purchase groceries online from Walmart. Amazon Prime/Whole Foods came in second with 50% (more than one selection was permitted), and Instacart and regional traditional grocery stores (such as Safeway and Wegmans) with their own online delivery tied for third with 23%, respectively.
While consumer frequency of buying groceries has not been impacted by COVID-19, the survey shows other grocery shopping habits have been. Since March 2020, 68% of respondents have bought groceries online for delivery, with 43% buying groceries online for delivery two or more times each month. Interestingly, 71% of respondents are also buying groceries in-store, 47% are ordering them for curbside pickup, and 17% are supplementing with meal kits.
Additionally, 60% of people are spending more on groceries now than before COVID-19, with 24% spending significantly more. The top two categories respondents are purchasing more of include snack foods (44%) and pantry staples (39%). After that, there’s a four-category dead heat between produce, baking ingredients, lunch food/ingredients, and eggs, each coming in at 30%.
The most common item respondents say they are buying less of is prepared foods (24%). In fact, 75% of respondents say their eating and cooking habits have changed since the pandemic began. From this group, 46% say they are cooking much more, 29% say they are doing more meal planning, and 22% say they are doing more bulk cooking…Â Chain Store Age