Online grocery sales in the U.S. declined 14% in February as fewer consumers – particularly those 60 and older – used grocery pickup, delivery and ship-to-home services.
Sales last month totaled $8 billion, down from $9.3 billion in January, according to the latest online grocery shopping survey from retail consulting firm Brick Meets Click.
David Bishop, partner in Brick Meets Click, said in a news release that the decrease was expected.
“While January’s sales performance set a record high … we also saw January’s shopper sentiment related to completing a grocery delivery or pickup order within the next month drop by approximately 10%, and that is what happened, albeit at a slightly higher rate, in February,” Bishop said.
Monthly active users dropped from 69.7 million in January to 60.1 million in February, with more than 40% of the reduction coming from the over-60 age group, according to the release. That shift could reflect a preference by many in that group for in-store shopping and increased confidence to resume shopping in-store as more people receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Brick Meets Click tracks three fulfillment options: delivery, pickup and ship-to-home. Ship-to-home covers packages delivered by parcel couriers like the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and UPS. The combination of delivery and pickup accounted for $6.1 billion of the $8 billion.
Pickup’s share of online grocery sales grew 5% in February, and that segment accounted for nearly half of sales for the month.
Overall, satisfaction with online grocery bounced back in February from where it was in January, when the higher number of users included an influx of first-time online grocery shoppers, who are more likely not to repeat purchase than shoppers who have already completed multiple online grocery orders.
Survey finds online grocery sales jumped, satisfaction dipped in January
In February, satisfaction scores among first-time users were significantly higher for delivery (more than 40% planning repeat purchase) than for pickup (less than 30%).
“These scores are concerning as pickup is only becoming more vital to brick-and-mortar retailers for both strategic and economic reasons,” Bishop said.
