Walmart, Amazon Lead As Consumers’ Online Grocers Of Choice

Chicory’s survey found nearly three-quarters of shoppers say they’re e-grocery users

According to new research from CPG/grocery digital commerce platform Chicory, Walmart stands well ahead of Amazon as consumers’ leading destination for online grocery shopping. Of more than 1,000 U.S. adults polled in January, over 35% named Walmart the retailer they use most often to buy groceries online, the third annual Chicory Online Grocery Usership Survey found. E-tail giant Amazon finished a distant second, cited by about 23% of respondents as their most-used online grocer. Third-party online grocery provider Instacart was the only other company to reach double digits, named by 10% of survey participants.

In the study, New York-based Chicory stated, “Walmart and Amazon come in as the top online grocery retailers for the third year in a row. Instacart, notably, held its position at No. 3. Considering Instacart has no brick-and-mortar locations and is solely focused on grocery delivery, its place at No. 3 is impressive and reflective of the overall rise in popularity of digital grocery solutions.”

Also cited by consumers as top online grocery destinations were Target (9%), Kroger (7%), Albertsons/Safeway (3%), Stop & Shop/Giant Food (2%) and Target’s Shipt delivery subsidiary (1%). About another 8% of respondents named other retailers.

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.

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.

Fifty-two per cent of January 2022 respondents placed online grocery orders at least once weekly, including 10% doing so more than one time per week. Roughly 33% order groceries online once a month, and about 14% buy groceries online for special occasions or holidays.

Half of those polled by Chicory said they typically spend $50 to $100 on e-grocery orders, with nearly 60% doing so at least once per week. Thirty-five per cent of consumers respondents reported that they spend over $100 for online grocery orders, up nearly 16% from 2021. Approximately 15% of respondents usually spend less than $50 for online grocery purchases.

Primarily convenience, Chicory’s findings show; Forty-six per cent 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%), according to the study (percentages approximate).