May 2020 Online Grocery Scorecard: New record highs for sales & HH penetration

NEWEST RESEARCH - June 2020

Topline: May 2020

Key performance metrics related to online grocery delivery and pickup activity climbed steadily in May, as COVID-19 continued to impact the way people shop for groceries. According the May 2020 Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey , in the last 30 days:

• Online grocery sales grew over 24% to a record-setting $6.6 billion, compared to April’s $5.3 billion.
• This  growth is driven by an 18% increase in the total number of orders in the past 30 days (73.5M in May vs. 62.5M in April) and higher spending per order ($90 in May vs. $85 in April).
• Household penetration rose to 33%, as the total number of customers who ordered groceries online for delivery or pickup reached 43.0M for May vs. 40.0M for April.
• Purchase frequency climbed 10% versus the prior month as active households placed an average of 1.7 online grocery orders for either delivery or pickup up in May, up from the average of 1.6 in April.

The continuing momentum in the May numbers shows how online buying with delivery or pickup service is becoming an integral part of grocery shopping for a broad base of consumers.

Monitoring the motivators

The May research also looked at several factors that help us better understand how health and loss of income are impacting shopper behavior.

• Health : 42% of the households surveyed indicated a “high level” of concern about catching/contracting the Coronavirus.
• Income Loss : 39% of the households surveyed indicated that their average monthly HH income has dropped dramatically – 25% or more – compared to Jan/Feb 2020. This translates to almost 50 million households.
• Private Label : For the households who buy private label items, a net 14%* reported buying more private label products during May compared to before COVID-19.

(*After accounting for those who reported a decline in their May purchases of private label items vs before COVID-19.)

May SCORECARD

This ongoing research provides a consistent update on key performance metrics for US online grocery orders fulfilled by delivery or pickup for the past 30 days . (Note: The metrics exclude online orders that are shipped to home via common or contract carriers.)

About the research

Brick Meets Click conducted this online survey May 22-25, 2020 with 1,724 adults, 18 years and older, who participated in the household’s grocery shopping.

• Results were adjusted based internet usage among US adults, 18 years and older, according to the Pew Research Center, in order to account for the non-response bias associated with online surveys.
• Responses were also weighted by age to reflect the national population of adults, 18 years and older, during each respective year, according to the US Census Bureau.

The March and April 2020 results were based on a similar methodology. The March sample included 1,601 adults and was conducted March 23–25, 2020. The April survey included 1,651 adults and was conducted April 22-25, 2020.

Thanks to Mercatus

We thank the team at Mercatus for their generous support of the June consumer research survey. Click here to see the May 28, 2020 press release .