Online grocery sales continue rising, hit $10B in July
Online grocery sales continued to stay hot in July compared to the same month last year.
U.S. online grocery sales totaled $10.0 billion for the month, a 26.0% increase over July 2024, according to the latest Brick Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey, sponsored by Mercatus. Record-high household penetration, strong order activity, and solid gains in spending rates contributed to the strong growth that helped online capture over 17% of total grocery spending during the month.
July’s strong sales also increased from June, when total online grocery sales hit $9.8 billion, a 27.6% increase year over year.
Delivery sales drove more than half of online grocery’s monthly gains in July, jumping 36% year over year to finish the month with $4.3 billion. Pickup posted $4.0 billion in monthly sales, growing 24% versus last year and contributing 38% to total year-over-year sales growth. Ship-to-home ended July with $1.6 billion in sales, an increase of 10% compared to July 2024.
[READ MORE: Survey: Half of consumers purchase groceries online at least monthly]
“The elimination of explicit fees, like the standard delivery cost, via a membership or subscription program, removes a top barrier to increased usage and customers are taking advantage of it,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “This tactic is unlocking latent demand for delivery which is typically viewed as the more convenient but also the more expensive option when compared to pickup.”
July set a record for online grocery penetration, as 81 million, or approximately 61% of U.S. households, bought groceries online during the month. Compared to a year ago, the overall number of monthly annual users (MAUs) climbed almost 11%. Brick Meets Click says this was fueled by infrequent and/or lapsed users reengaging with this shopping mode.
The average number of online grocery orders completed by MAUs during July grew 6.5% compared to last year. The two middle age groups (30-44 and 45-60) generated the gains as the youngest and oldest groups both reported slight pullbacks in activity.
While the mass merchant sector saw order frequency among its MAUs grow in the mid-single digits, supermarkets saw its order rate decline slightly versus July 2024, largely due to a strong annual expansion of its MAU base.
Although all methods posted gains in their respective average order values (AOV), delivery was the main driver of the 7% year-over-year increase in online grocery’s overall AOV. Delivery’s AOV climbed 8%, while pickup’s AOV grew under 5%. Ship-to-home’s AOV growth was more modest, growing by less than 2%.
"In an era where ‘free’ delivery is setting new customer expectations and Walmart’s retail media revenue fuels its competitive edge, regional grocers face mounting pressure to profitably serve shoppers online,” said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth marketing officer at Mercatus. “Grocery retailers that own and activate their customer data to target and personalize offers – especially for infrequent or lapsed shoppers – can turn renewed engagement into lasting loyalty, defending both sales and margins."
Brick Meets Click conducted its July survey between July 28-31, 2025, with 1,499 adults who participated in the household’s grocery shopping.
