Walmart Expands Its Share of Online Grocery Sales

The Walmart Expands Its Share of Online Grocery Sales article highlights the findings of the Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey, emphasizing the necessity for retailers to enhance their value propositions and adapt to changing shopper expectations.

In the third quarter, online grocery sales experienced significant growth, totaling $27.4 billion, with mass merchandisers like Walmart capturing the majority of this increase. According to Brick Meets Click’s Q3 report, online grocery sales surged by 13.8%, driven primarily by a remarkable 25% increase in delivery orders, as noted in the U.S. eGrocery Market Share Report.

Additionally, ship-to-home and pickup orders grew by 15% and 5%, respectively, during the quarter. Mass merchandise stores saw their sales share rise by 390 basis points, reaching 52.7% in delivery sales year over year. In contrast, traditional supermarkets experienced a decline in market share, dropping by 250 basis points to just under 38%.

The mass merchandise sector also expanded its ship-to-home business, which climbed by 150 basis points to 16.4%, largely at the expense of Amazon, which saw a year-over-year decline of 100 basis points, capturing 50.1% of the segment. While mass merchandisers enjoyed growth in ship-to-home and delivery, their share of the pickup market fell by 70 basis points; however, they still retained over half the market at 56.1%.

The increase in delivery sales for mass merchandise retailers can be attributed to Walmart’s membership push, which has heightened demand for delivery services.

David Bishop, a partner at Brick Meets Click, emphasized the survey’s findings, stating that they underline the critical need for retailers to strengthen their value proposition and adapt to evolving shopper expectations. He noted, “Mass, and Walmart in particular, have demonstrated the value of better understanding online shoppers’ preferences while leveraging its vast store network and digital reach to grow faster than the overall market.”

Overall, the number of monthly active users grew by 200 basis points to 56% year over year, with an additional 3 percentage points of users spending a quarter or more of their weekly grocery budget online compared to the previous year. Total online grocery spending now constitutes 14.6% of the overall grocery market for the quarter.

The report indicates that the trend of cross-shopping online will continue to challenge traditional grocers in the near future, as a third of all monthly active users in Q3 also made online purchases through mass merchandisers.

Mark Fairhurst, chief growth officer at Mercatus, remarked, “To compete effectively against giants like Walmart, supermarkets must deepen their customer connections and enhance their service. Leveraging customer insights is crucial for creating personalized experiences and offering targeted savings to customers — but that’s only possible when retailers can effectively operationalize the data.”