Survey: Online grocery shoppers make fewer impulse buys

London, U.K. — Online grocery shoppers tend to buy fewer impulse purchases online than in store, resulting in smaller basket sizes. A recent survey of 1,154 online grocery shoppers from EDigitalResearch found that 29% of respondents feel that they make far fewer impulse purchases online than in store.

In comparison, just 7% said that they purchase more additional impulse buys online than they do in a store. Of those online grocery shoppers surveyed, just 10% said that they always stick to the same brands for particular items. Perhaps unsurprisingly, price is one of the key drivers behind brand switches. However, loyalty card promotions, search positions and product images all also have an effect on how people shop online.

"The growth of online has the ability to drastically hamper supermarkets, retailers and suppliers,” said Derek Eccleston, Commercial Director at EdigitalResearch. “With more of us becoming all the more reliant on online and digital technologies, the online grocery market is only likely to grow. These results suggest that with this online growth, supermarkets are going to see overall spend shrink. They therefore need to be working closely with suppliers to understand this new breed of grocery shopper - they need to know how they shop and why, as well as what makes them buy what they do - in an effort to encourage online shoppers to spend more."