Study: Walmart’s online grocery sales skyrocket in March

With an already strong e-commerce presence, Walmart racked up impressive year-over-year online grocery sales growth in March.

Walmart grocery’s online sales reached nearly $900 million in March, up 21% from February 2020 and 99% from the previous year, according to 1010data, a provider of data and analytics to asset managers, retailers and CPG companies. The surge came as consumers rushed online to stock up on groceries and find high-demand items amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

1010data put together the Walmart-specific data points—including online, click and collect, and home delivery of Walmart groceries purchased online. The data is projected from the company’s panel of 5 million U.S. consumers and is based on tracking credit and debit card sales.

Here are other Walmart highlights from the data:

•    Some of the biggest category movers, over the previous month, were hand sanitizer, sales were up 307%; alcohol, up 143%; cough and cold medicine, up 116%; and toilet paper, up 133%.
•    Walmart grocery shoppers spent an average of $127 per order (11% more than usual) in the days following Trump’s Oval Office address.
•    Within 2 weeks, however, average orders dropped to $98 (14% lower than normal) as shoppers encountered stock-outs due to the overwhelming demand for purchasing groceries through the service.