More people grocery shopped online last year and, no surprise, Walmart led the pack

Walmart came out on top in the online grocery derby with 35% of respondents to a January 2022 survey saying Walmart was where they shopped most for online food items. Amazon was second with 23% followed by Instacart with 10%, according to the survey of more than 1,000 households done by consumer packaged goods/grocery digital commerce platform Chicory.

*I still prefer in-person shopping, even when people are doing hoarding shopping as they were here early in the pandemic.*

Online grocery shopping continued to grow last year, likely spurred in part by the continuing Covid pandemic but primarily by convenience.

“As of January, 72% of shoppers surveyed by Chicory said they purchased groceries online in the past 90 days. That percentage reflects increased e-grocery use since before the pandemic, as just over 70% of consumers bought groceries online in the previous 60 days as of January 2021 and more than 50% did so as of January 2020,” reported Supermarket News in discussing the survey.

“Forty-six percent of those surveyed named convenience/time constraints as the main reason for ordering groceries online. Consumers also cited product availability/accessibility (19%), price (14%), health/safety concerns (10%), and preference for a digital versus in-store experience (nearly 10%),” reported Supermarket News.

Different generations are shopping at different places, the survey also found.

“By age, Target draws a significant percentage of 18- to 44-year-olds as their online grocer of choice, but Walmart and Amazon respectively led across all generational groups as the most-chosen e-grocers. Amazon was the top choice for those ages 60 and older, while Walmart had the most traction among 45- to 60-year-olds. Conventional supermarket chain Kroger also had its largest share of online grocery users in that age group. Instacart, meanwhile, had its biggest online grocery usership in the age 18-29 segment,” Supermarket News reported.

That’s good news for Instacart and Target future sales as the younger generation ages and spends more money on food.

I did some online shopping early in the pandemic but still enjoy actually going to a supermarket to be sure I get the deals I want and the produce and meats I pick out myself.