Survey: Online grocery shopping gains in popularity

LOUISVILLE, Colo. — U.S. grocery shopping habits appear to be changing as consumers increasingly seek out the convenience of online ordering when it comes to food, according to a new study.

A survey of 1,100 U.S. online grocery shoppers from natural and organic online grocer Door to Door Organics shows that more than half (54%) said in the past year they had increased the amount of grocery shopping they do online by an average of 29%.



Less than 4% said that in the last year they had decreased their online grocery shopping and 42% stated that the amount of grocery shopping they do online had stayed the same. Overall, shoppers indicated that an average of 19% of their weekly grocery shopping is currently done online.



While online grocery shopping continues to gain popularity, the majority of consumers still rely on multiple online and brick-and-mortar stores to complete their weekly grocery shopping. Only 13% of survey respondents said a single store (online or offline) meets their weekly grocery shopping needs, while 34% shop at two stores during a typical week and 53% shop at three or more online and/or offline grocery stores each week.



Respondents indicated they had on average only 82 minutes of free time every day and spent an average of 69 minutes each week shopping for groceries. Additionally, respondents estimated the average value of one hour of their time to be $56 per hour.



When it comes to what grocery products consumers are buying online, 23% of respondents said they do not buy fresh grocery products (e.g., meat, fish, dairy, produce) online. Of those who do purchase produce and other fresh grocery items online, 57% said they had been disappointed in the quality or freshness of these purchases at least once in the last year.



When asked what would make them feel more secure about the quality of fresh groceries when ordering online, 58% said knowing that the products were recently picked or packaged would increase their confidence, and 51% would be more comfortable if the fresh products were sourced from a local farm. Additionally, 25% said they would feel more secure about the quality of fresh grocery products if they were purchasing them from a specialty online grocer.

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