Products ranging from music to apparel to mattresses have all made the transition to the Internet Age with relative ease but groceries are in a class all their own. They have characteristics that make them uniquely challenging to be sold online: comparatively low weight ratios, warehousing and handling disadvantages, and, of course, the shoppers themselves, who often aren’t willing to wait for grocery purchases and tend to scrutinize the foods and beverages they buy—to thump that cantaloupe and study that expiration date.

In the same context, the latest report launched by Field Agent sheds light on the attitudes of conventional, brick-and-mortar grocery shopping and shoppers’ behavior and sentiment toward online grocery shopping. Let’s take a quick glance:

Traditional Grocery Shopping Vs. Online Grocery Shopping:

• 46% of households reported that they’re shopping for groceries online versus 54% who never did so.
• When they looked ahead 5 years, fully 71% claimed that they expect to conduct more of their grocery shopping in the digital marketplace, while 4-in-10, moreover, expect to make fewer store trips in the coming year.
• Shoppers are concerned about the quality and freshness of the groceries they purchase online (69%), and also the inability to see/touch them before buying (61%).

A Graph Shows the % of Total Grocery Shopping Do Shoppers Think They’ll Be Doing Online – 2018

A Spotlight at Grocery Pickup:

• 32% of respondents said they’ve used one or more grocery pickup services and, even among these, few use BOPUS to complete more than 10% of their overall grocery shopping, with 66% of shoppers expect to use grocery pickup more over the next five years.
• 90% reported the overall online shopping experience with Amazon.com was “very good” or “good”.
• 95% reported that the AmazonFresh Pickup site and process were either “very good” or “good”.
• 95% rated their Amazon fresh produce as “extremely” or “very fresh”.

A Spotlight at Grocery Delivery:

• In 2017, 32% of households had purchased groceries online for delivery to their homes—and the majority of them used delivery for only 1-5% of their total grocery purchases.
• 80% said the condition of their groceries was “very good” when delivered, and three-quarters said their fresh items were “extremely fresh,” and another 20% “very fresh”
• Again, 58% of new users said they prefer AmazonFresh delivery to grocery-shopping at a brick-and-mortar facility, and 58% claimed they’re “completely” or “very likely” to use AmazonFresh delivery again.

A Graph Shows the Percentage of Households Who Presently Buy Online for In-Store Pickup or Curbside Pickup in 2018

Methodology:

Data is based on 11 mobile studies, 5,890 survey responses, and 116 QuickShops responses.