U.S. eGrocery Market Share 3Q24 Recap: How the market is growing and transforming

The U.S. eGrocery market experienced a significant surge in the third quarter of 2024 (3Q24), with total online grocery sales reaching $27.4 billion, marking 14% year-over-year (YOY) growth. This strong growth, driven primarily by Delivery services, signals a rapidly evolving market.

“The strong 3Q24 results for eGrocery underscore the importance of strengthening the customer value proposition to align better with the evolving expectations associated with shopping online for groceries,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “Mass, and Walmart in particular, have demonstrated the value of better understanding online shoppers’ preferences while also leveraging its vast store network and digital reach to grow faster than the overall market.”

Surge in Delivery sales fuels growth

Delivery services played a crucial role in the eGrocery market expansion, with sales increasing by a remarkable 25% YOY. While other fulfillment methods like Ship-to-Home and Pickup also contributed to the growth—posting gains of 15% and 5%, respectively—Delivery led the charge.

This is in stark contrast to the previous year, when Delivery sales experienced a slight decline. The resurgence of Delivery highlights the growing consumer preference for convenience and fast access when it comes to meeting their grocery needs.

Mass retailers continue to gain Market Share

The eGrocery landscape continues to shift, with Mass retailers such as Walmart making significant gains at the expense of traditional Supermarkets.

• In the Delivery segment, Mass retailers increased their market share by 390 basis points, capturing close to 53% of the market, while Supermarkets saw their share drop by 250 basis points to just under 38%.
• Ship-to-Home also saw Mass retailers increase their market share vs last year, up by 150 basis points to 16.4%, particularly at the expense of Amazon, as Walmart and other big players grew their foothold in this segment.
• Pickup showed a slight decline for Mass retailers, down 70 bps versus 3Q23, capturing 56.1% of the method’s overall sales and suggesting some competition from other grocery formats.

Understanding today’s eGrocery shopper

The shift in consumer behavior is also evident in the increasing number of monthly active users (MAUs) in the online grocery space. In 3Q24, the MAU base grew from 54% in 2023 to 56%, with a notable increase in the proportion of shoppers spending 25% or more of their grocery budget online.

Additionally, while the share of grocery spending allocated to online shopping resumed its growth trajectory, now representing 14.6% of total grocery spending, the share from Delivery and Pickup methods rose by 110 basis points to 12.0%.

Supermarkets face cross-shopping challenges

A growing challenge for Supermarkets is the trend of cross-shopping, where consumers split their grocery purchases between Supermarkets and Mass retailers. In 3Q24, one-third of Supermarket MAUs also shopped at Mass retailers in the same month, up from the previous year and significantly higher than in 2019.

This shift indicates that Supermarkets must deepen their customer connections and enhance their service offerings to compete effectively with giants like Walmart. Leveraging data-driven customer insights will be key for these retailers to create personalized experiences and offer targeted savings to retain their market share.

A call to action for Grocery Executives

It is more important than ever to understand evolving consumer preferences and to adapt to the fast-paced eGrocery market. The success of Mass retailers in the Delivery and Ship-to-Home segments offers key insights into what eGrocery customers value: convenience, fast delivery, and seamless integration between online and offline shopping experiences.

“To compete effectively against giants like Walmart, Supermarkets must deepen their customer connections and enhance their service,” said Mark Fairhurst, Chief Growth Officer at Mercatus. “Leveraging customer insights is crucial for creating personalized experiences and offering targeted savings to customers -- but that's only possible when retailers can effectively operationalize the data."

In summary, these 3Q24 results show that the U.S. eGrocery market is not just growing—it’s transforming. Grocery and CPG leaders need to embrace these shifts, invest in enhancing their customer value propositions, and make data-driven decisions to thrive in this increasingly competitive space.

U.S. eGrocery Market Share Report - 3Q24

For more detailed insights into market trends, consider purchasing the full eGrocery Market Share Report - 3Q24 which offers a comprehensive analysis of these dynamics and more. 

About this report and analysis

The U.S. eGrocery Market Share Report - 3Q24 is a quarterly report created by Brick Meets Click and sponsored by Mercatus. The report is designed to help grocery retailers, and their suppliers understand the how the eGrocery market is shifting by providing market share estimates across several retail formats (Supermarkets, Mass, Hard Discount, etc.) and receiving methods (Delivery, Pickup, and Ship-to-Home) over a three-year period, running between July 2021 and September2024. 

The analysis leverages data from the monthly Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey, an independent research initiative conducted by Brick Meets Click since March 2020, and sponsored by Mercatus. This analysis is based on 5,426 responses compiled across the Q3 of 2021; 5,185 responses compiled during Q3 2022; 5,253 responses in Q3 of 2023; and 5,329 responses compiled during Q3 of 2024 from adults 18 years and older who participated in the household’s grocery shopping.