Q4 2024 U.S. eGrocery Market Share: Video Update

Our new Q4 2024 eGrocery Market Share report offers important insights into the trends shaping the online grocery industry, such as how Order Frequency rates are climbing and driving much of the recent growth, especially for Delivery.

Mark Fairhurst, Chief Growth Officer at Mercatus, sits down with David Bishop, Partner at Brick Meets Click to explore the eGrocery sales results from the past three months. Their discussion kicks off with a key question: How are major players, like Walmart, using discounted Delivery subscriptions to dominate online grocery?

Highlighting Walmart’s ability to capture market share through initiatives like Walmart+, David and Mark discuss how this impacts regional grocers who lack similar resources and explore several strategies grocers can use to compete effectively, including:

• ‍Leaning into Pickup services: A cost-effective and scalable way to compete with Delivery-heavy models.‍
• Rethinking value: Moving beyond price to offer a mix of convenience, quality, and personalization.‍
• Focusing on differentiation: Leveraging local knowledge and personalizing services to stand apart from mass retailers.

Mark and David also focus on the psychology behind consumer behaviors, examining how subscription services incentivize higher order frequency and reshape shopping habits. They discuss whether these trends are sustainable and how grocers can better align with changing customer expectations.

Beyond consumer trends, broader industry pressures like food inflation, rising operational costs, and the challenges of adapting to a subscription-driven market need to be considered. While Delivery has driven much of the overall growth in eGrocery sales,  Mark and David emphasize that Pickup is quietly becoming an essential tool for regional grocers to maintain relevance.

While Delivery sales have surged by more than 30% YOY, largely fueled by promotional campaigns, Pickup’s growth of more than 10% stands out because it organic and unassisted. This continues to signal an opportunity for grocers to lean into Pickup services as a cost-effective and sustainable way to meet customer needs.

As 2025 begins, Mark and David share predictions for the continued growth of eGrocery and outline several proactive strategies to help regional grocers stay competitive throughout the next 11 months.

Chapters

0:00 - Introductions & Overview

0:35 - Key takeaways: Q4 2024 Market Share Report

1:00 - Year-over-Year Sales Growth

2:35 - Order frequency trends and the role of Subscriptions

5:30 - Are Regional Grocers also experiencing this explosive growth?

7:40 - How can Grocers compete with value offered by Hard Discounters

9:35 – Hard Discounters: Comparing In-store vs. Online performance

12:20 - Delivery vs. Pickup: Comparing subsidized vs. organic growth

14:25 - Perceived control in Delivery vs. Pickup services

17:10 - How viewers/organizations can connect to continue the discussion