81% of consumers never buy groceries online

Most Americans say they never order groceries online, according to a new poll from Gallup.

Eighty-one percent of the U.S. consumers surveyed by Gallup in July said they never order groceries online, while 11% said they do so at least once a month. Similarly, 88% of U.S. adults said they never order meal kits containing fresh foods online, while 7% said they do so at least once a month.

At least seven in 10 U.S. adults told Gallup they shop for groceries in person at a grocery store, eat meals at restaurants, and order food for take-out or delivery.

Gallup first asked about ordering groceries online in 2017, and the results are essentially unchanged since then. At that time, 84% said they never order groceries online, and 9% did so at least once a month.

According to Gallup, online grocery shopping is more common among parents and upper-income adults — 19% of those with children under age 18 order groceries online at least monthly, as do 18% of those with annual household incomes of $100,000 or greater.

Americans between the ages of 30 and 49 — those most likely to have young children — are also among the subgroups most inclined to get groceries via the internet.

Meanwhile, in-person grocery shopping shows no obvious signs of declining, with the percentages this year similar to those from 2017 and 2018. In-store grocery shopping is by far the most common way Americans get food, with 83% saying they shop at grocery stores at least once a week, including 37% who do so more than once a week.

The survey results are from Gallup's annual Consumption Habits survey, conducted July 1-12.