Feb 2022 U.S. Online Grocery: Total sales reach $8.7 billion, up nearly 9% vs last year

Top Line

The total U.S. online grocery market generated $8.7 billion in sales during February, a gain of 8.5% compared to the same period a year ago,according to the Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey fielded February 26-27, 2022.

Year-over-year analysis shows Pickup continued to capture the largest share of total online grocery sales at47%, while Delivery captured 37% and Ship-to-Home dropped to 16%.

"New service providers, a broader range of retailers selling grocery-related products online, and services targeting faster cycle times contributed to Delivery’s strong sales growth, but even so, more shoppers still prefer Pickup for range of reasons that will benefit this service model going forward,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click.

Key Findings & Insights: Feb 2022 YOY

Share of sales: Pickup and Delivery grow as Ship-to-Home hits a record low

• Pickup, the largest segment of eGrocery, grew 6% versus a year ago,generated $4.0 billion in sales, and accounted for 47% of the total sales.
• Delivery reported a year-over-year gain of 37%, which equated to $3.2 billion, capturing 37% share of eGrocery spending.
• Ship-to-Home, which was the largest segment pre-COVID, finished with $1.4billion in sales, down 24% year over year.

Customer Base: Shopper interest in online grocery remained strong

• More than 68 million households bought groceries from a wide variety of providers and retail channels, which was nearly 11% higher than last year’s monthly active user (MAU) base.
• All three segments, Pickup, Delivery, and Ship-to-Home reported double-digit gains in their respective MAU bases with Delivery reporting the largest year-over-year gain at approximately 28%.

Average order value (AOV): Declined in aggregate by more than 2% YOY

• Ship-to-Home was the main contributor to the overall spending decline as its AOV fell more than 25% to under $40 in February 2022.
• Pickup’s AOV declined by less than 4% and Delivery’s AOV grew by 12% versus last year.

Order Frequency: Up 3% YOY

• MAUs completed 2.73 orders during the month, driven by increased usage of both Pickup and Delivery while Ship-to-Home decreased by mid-single digits.
• The increased order frequency, however, was not evenly distributed across market types. Only in the Large Metro markets did MAUs complete marginally more orders this year versus last; the three smaller metro market types reported mid- to upper-single digit declines.

Cross-shopping: Up slightly YOY as more than 1 out of 4 Grocery MAUs shopped with Mass

• The share of Grocery’s MAU base that cross-shopped online with Mass during the month increased 1.3 percentage points versus last year and finished at almost 26% for February 2022.

Repeat intent: Overall level higher vs year ago as Grocery takes top spot from Mass

• The likelihood for an online grocery shopper to use the same service again within the next month came in at over 62% for the month, climbing by more than four percentage points on a year-over-year basis.
• And, for the second time in the last several months, Grocery’s specific repeat intent rate overtook the Mass repeat intent rate.

Sponsor Message & Appreciation

"Today, customer expectations for online grocery shopping are different than they were even a year ago, not to mention before COVID," according to Sylvain Perrier, president and CEO, Mercatus. "To grow their online share of wallet going forward, conventional grocers need to find ways to better satisfy those changing expectations. Inflationary pressures suggest retailers should look at optimizing online meal planning, showcasing store brands, and encouraging repeat customers to take advantage of online loyalty discounts."  

We thank the team at Mercatus for their continued generous support of the February 2022 research wave. Click here to see the March 17, 2022 press release .

About this Consumer Research

* The Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey is an ongoing independent research initiative created and conducted by Brick Meets Click and sponsored by Mercatus.

Brick Meets Click conducted the survey on February 26-27, 2022, with 1,790 adults, 18 years and older, who participated in the household’s grocery shopping. This research is scheduled to run monthly through 2022; then the cadence will be reevaluated to best suit the industry’s needs.The three receiving methods for online grocery orders are defined as follows:

• Ship-to-Home includes orders that are received via common or contract carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.
• Delivery includes orders received from a first- or third-party provider like Instacart, Shipt or the retailer's own employees.
• Pickup (aka curbside) includes orders that are received by customers either inside or outside a store or at a designated location/locker.

Results were adjusted based on internet usage among U.S. adults to account for the non-response bias associated with online surveys. Responses are geographically representative of the U.S. and weighted by age to reflect the national population of adults, 18 years and older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Brick Meets Click used a similar methodology for each of the surveys conducted in 2022 - Jan. 29-30 (n=1,793); in 2021 – Dec. 29-30 (n = 1,836), Nov. 29-30 (n=1,785), Oct. 29-30 (n=1,751), Sept. 28-29 (n=1,728), Aug. 29-30 (n=1,806), July 29-30 (n=1,892), June 27-28 (n=1,789), May 28-30 (n=1,872), Apr. 26-28 (n=1,941), Mar. 26-28 (n=1,811), Feb. 26-28 (n= 1,812), and Jan. 28-31 (n=1,776); in 2020 – Nov. 11-14 (n=2,067), Aug. 24-26 (n=1,817), Jun. 24-25 (n=1,781), May 20-22 (n=1,724), Apr. 22-24 (n= 1,651), and Mar. 23-25 (n=1,601); and in 2019 – Aug. 22-24 (n = 2,485).