Online grocery sales grew 54.0% in 2020 to reach $95.82 billion. That propelled it to a 12.0% share of total US ecommerce sales and 7.4% of all grocery sales.
“The pandemic pushed consumers to search for a safe and convenient way of getting essential grocery items, and many retailers adapted to that demand,” said Whitney Birdsall, eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence. “With the growing number of stores offering curbside pickup and an increase in features offered by grocery delivery apps, consumers are now presented with a variety of incentives and options to order their groceries online. A large portion of consumers who became first-time online grocery buyers during the pandemic now prefer this mode of grocery shopping due to convenience.”
Looking ahead, growth will slow as the vaccine rollout allows shoppers to more comfortably return to stores. Nevertheless, a portion of online grocery shopping will remain, pushing past $100 billion in spending for the first time in 2021, a full year ahead of previous estimates. And by 2023, online grocery sales will make up 11.2% of total US grocery sales.