Digital Grocery Sales Grow, but Shopper Habits Changed

New York City (NY) | Miami (FL). (prn) Incisiv, a next-generation industry insights firm that helps retailers and brands navigate digital disruption, and Wynshop, the leading provider of digital commerce and fulfillment solutions for local store-based retailers, today revealed the findings from their «State of Digital Grocery Performance Card for Q3-2022».

Digital grocery sales rose 14.4 percent in Q3, as compared with Q2, reaching USD 87 billion in 2022 sales, or 13.4 percent of the total US grocery market. But shopper buying habits appear to have changed in response to inflation. The average digital grocery basket contained 5-6 fewer items in 2022 than in the corresponding basket of 2021, and 73 percent of shoppers claim to have switched to lower-priced brands.

Grocery Doppio’s «State of Digital Grocery Performance Card» Q3-2022

Updated monthly, the State of Digital Grocery Performance Cards are one of many resources available on the Grocery Doppio website. The reports are built around data analysis of 1.5 million shopper orders and survey results from more than 16,000 shoppers and 1,600 U.S. grocery executives.

More key findings from the Q3-2022 Performance Card

• Inflation changed the digital grocery basket
  • The average price/item in a digital basket increased by 21 percent from the previous year
  • This represents an increase of USD 0.30/item in Q3, as compared to Q2
  • Although overall digital basket size grew 10.2 percent from Q1 to Q3, digital basket item quantity decreased by an average of four to six items over the same period

• Preference for pickup accelerated as sales through third-party marketplaces declined
  • Digital grocery sales through third-party providers declined 23 percent in Q3 as compared to Q1
  • Grocers’ own websites continue to account for the majority of digital sales, at 70.2 percent in Q3
  • Pickup orders increased to USD 16 billion in Q3, representing 52.8 percent of all digital orders, as compared with USD 15.4 billion in Q1 and USD 13.2 billion in Q2

• In-store inventory visibility continues to be a challenge
  • One in six pickup orders in 2022 included at least one substituted item
  • Lost sales in 2022 rose to USD 2 billion in canceled digital orders and USD 7.5 billion in items not found/substituted

«While digital grocery rose in Q3 compared to Q2, there was a weakening in sales and shopper sentiment in September,» said Gaurav Pant, Chief Insights Officer of both Incisiv and Grocery Doppio, «Shoppers are now moving to private-label brands and shifting spending to lower-priced grocery chains.»

«Grocery shoppers have made it clear that they will continue to buy online, and prefer to do so directly from their favorite grocer,» said Charlie Kaplan, Chief Strategy Officer of Wynshop. «Better inventory visibility and insights into digital shopper purchasing behavior will continue to be critical to achieving profitable online businesses and satisfied grocery shoppers.»

These and other data insights are now available for download on «Grocery Doppio», a free, independent source of grocery insights and data designed to help grocers jumpstart, accelerate, and sustain digital growth.

Every month, Grocery Doppio brings together rich, research-driven grocery content, fact-based observations, inspiring perspectives, and deep performance benchmarks that identify improvement opportunities for grocery retailers. The site is designed to help grocery and food executives optimize their digital and in-store channels, and accelerate growth profitably.