November Hits Record 78M Online Grocery Shoppers, Surpassing Pandemic Peak

In November, online grocery shopping hit a new milestone with 77.8 million households making online grocery orders, surpassing the previous record of 76.7 million set in April 2020, the first full month of the COVID pandemic. This surge was driven by a 15% year-over-year increase in monthly active users, contributing to $9.6 billion in total monthly sales, marking a 17.8% year-over-year growth.

Among the three fulfillment methods—delivery, pickup, and ship-to-home—both delivery and pickup saw significant gains, each reporting $3.9 billion in sales. Delivery saw a 22% increase, while pickup rose by 8% year-over-year. Ship-to-home also showed strong growth with $1.7 billion in sales, a 30% year-over-year increase. Pickup accounted for 41.3% of online grocery sales, followed closely by delivery at 40.6%, with ship-to-home making up 18.1%.

The delivery segment benefited from an 8% increase in its monthly active user base and higher order activity, which contributed to the surge in sales. The pickup segment, on the other hand, saw a 9% increase in monthly active users, despite a slight decline in average order volume due to a pullback in orders from shoppers aged 18-29.

Ship-to-home emerged as the fastest-growing fulfillment method, with its monthly active user base expanding by 11% year-over-year.

The rise in online grocery shoppers was largely driven by deep discounts on membership and subscription programs offered by both national and regional grocers. These promotions, which began in May, continued to fuel growth throughout November. David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click, noted that while supermarkets experienced significant growth in their user base, the competition to retain customers and increase share-of-wallet is intensifying.

Despite the surge in online grocery shopping, mass merchandise stores saw minimal growth, with their user base expanding by less than 1% year-over-year. However, order frequency in mass merchandise stores increased by 9%, driven by a sharp rise in ship-to-home orders.

Customer satisfaction for online grocery shopping reached 65.2% in November, the highest score in four years. To maintain growth, grocers are encouraged to create a more personalized shopping experience with tailored product recommendations, easy-to-use rewards programs, and seamless navigation. According to Mark Fairhurst, chief growth officer at Mercatus, these efforts can help build customer loyalty and foster long-term success in the online grocery market.