Study: Global consumers eye online groceries
New York – Retailers who offer or are considering offering online grocery shopping may be on the right track. One-quarter of 30,000 online global respondents surveyed in the new Nielsen Global E-commerce and the New Retail Surv say they are already ordering grocery products online for home delivery and more than half (55%) are willing to use it in the future.
However, the majority of global respondents (61%) reported that going to the grocery store is an enjoyable and engaging experience. A similar percentage (57%) thinks grocery shopping in a retail store is a fun day out for the family.
Retailers have a lot of room to grow when it comes to in-store digital enablement options. Use of online or mobile coupons (18%) and mobile shopping lists (15%) are the most cited forms of in-store digital engagement in use today among global respondents, with about two-thirds willing to use them in the future (65% and 64%, respectively). Downloading a retailer/loyalty program app on a mobile phone to receive information or offers is used by 14% of global respondents, and 63% say they're willing to use one when it is available. About one-in-10 global respondents say they log in to store Wi-Fi to receive information or offers (12%), use in-store computers to view extended product ranges (11%) or scan QR codes to access more information (11%). Roughly two-thirds, however, are willing to use these options in the future (66%, 68% and 65%), respectively.
Current usage of six e-commerce options (home delivery, in-store pickup, drive-through pickup, curbside pickup, virtual supermarket and automatic subscription) is greatest among the youngest respondents, and they are also the most willing to use all of the e-commerce options in the future. For example, 30% of Millennials (ages 21-34) and 28% of Generation Z (ages 15-20) respondents say they're ordering groceries online for home delivery, compared with 22% of Generation X (ages 35-49), 17% of Baby Boomers (ages 50-64) and 9% of Silent Generation (ages 65+) respondents. Younger respondents are also the most willing to use all of the e-commerce options in the future.
Fourteen percent of global respondents say they use an automatic online subscription service, in which orders are routinely replenished at a specified frequency, and more than half (54%) are willing to do so in the future. In addition, 13% of global respondents say they're already using a virtual store and nearly six-in-10 (58%) are willing use them when they become available.
A smaller number of consumers are using "click and collect" services in which consumers order groceries online for pickup at a store or other location. Just more than 10% of global respondents say they order groceries online and pick them up in-store or using a drive-thru (12% each). Slightly fewer (10%) order online for curb-side pick-up. More than half of global respondents, however, are willing to use these online options in the future (57% for in-store, 55% for drive-thru and 52% for curb-side pickup).
Virtual baskets don't necessarily mirror physical ones. In fact, the relationship between the two is often an inverse one. In the U.S., for example, the mix of online product sales is roughly 60% non-food to 40% food, the exact reverse of the total in-store CPG picture, which is about 60% food and 40% non-food.
In terms of what drives store-switching behavior, globally, 68% of consumers say price, followed by quality (55%). Convenience (46%) and special promotions (45%) are drivers for nearly half of respondents, while cleanliness (39%), and selection/assortment (36%) are reasons for four-in-10. Store staff is a factor for just over one-quarter (27%) of respondents.