Online grocery sales reach $8B in November
Online grocery sales in the U.S. in November rose more than 5% compared the same month last year.
According to Brick Meets Click’s latest Grocery Shopping Survey, sales in November were $8.1 billion, compared to $7.7 billion in 2022. All three online grocery methods (delivery, pickup and ship-to-home) receiving methods contributed to the year-over-year sales growth.
The delivery channel’s 8.6% year-over-year sales growth was primarily driven by strong gains in its monthly active user (MAU) base, which helped grow order volume by 7.5% despite an increase of just 1.0% in average order value (AOV). Delivery accounted for nearly 33% of all online sales in November 2023, up 250 bps versus last year.
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Brick Meets Click found that pickup sales grew only 1.6% during November compared to a year ago, boosted by AOV growth of 11.8%. This was tempered by a modest decline in its MAU base and lower order frequency which together pulled order volume down 9.2% versus last year. Pickup accounted for 38% of online grocery sales in November.
Ship-to-home sales grew 7.6% driven by solid MAU growth in Amazon’s pure-play services. Despite a decreased order frequency rate, this MAU growth led to a nearly 3% increase in overall order volume, and a 4.5% increase in AOV contributed to the balance of the sales gains in November. Ship-to-home accounted for 29% of online grocery sales in November.
For November, the research showed that 42% of U.S. households used a mass retailer for most of their in-store or online grocery purchases during the month, finishing 390 basis points (bps) higher than supermarkets for the same period. Brick Meets Click said this is a shift from May 2023, when the same percentage of households reported using supermarkets as their primary store, compared to 39% for mass.
“The current economic realities and omnichannel strategies are aiding mass retailers in attracting more customers today,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “The price advantage that a Mass rival, such as Walmart, enjoys is motivating cash-strapped households to shift where they shop, and Mass customer engagement strategies are making it easier for those customers to shop the way they want.”
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Mass continued to see strong growth in its MAU base in November, which grew by 14%. The supermarket MAU base shrank by 14% compared to 2022. Both channels reported lower order frequency among their MAU bases, with supermarket and mass each declining around 5%. For AOVs, mass posted a 9.0% increase across its delivery and pickup services while supermarket saw a 5.6% increase across its delivery and pickup services versus the prior year.
Online sales across all formats accounted for 11.7% of total weekly grocery spending during the last week of November, increasing 160 bps versus last year. Pickup and delivery combined, since most conventional supermarkets don’t offer ship-to-home, also grew 130 bps to finish the month at 9.8%.
Brick Meets Click conducted the survey, sponsored by Mercatus, on Nov. 29-30, 2023, with 1,814 adults, 18 years and older, who participated in the household’s grocery shopping.
This story originally appeared on Chain Store Age.