April online grocery surges past record-setting March
Online grocery sales continued to surge in April, new survey results from Brick Meets Click and Symphony RetailAI revealed.
The latest shopping survey, looking at the last 30 days, said online grocery sales have grown by 37%, totaling $5.3 billion, compared to March, which already saw a record-setting total of $4 billion.
Brick Meets Click also recently reported huge online growth in a different study with the online platform ShopperKit.
The latest numbers said sales growth was driven by a 33% increase in total number of orders in the past 30 days, up more than 62 million in April, compared to nearly 47 million in March. Spending increase per order was $85 in April vs. $82 in March.
The advisory firm said nearly half of the households surveyed had a “high level” of concern of catching COVID-19 when shopping in a store, pushing the month-by-month increase in e-commerce. And the survey also said roughly 40% of households said their average monthly income has been impacted by the pandemic, dropping by 25% or more compared to a survey in January and February. The less money certainly points to the leveled dollar-per-order results.
"These two factors are particularly important for retailers to understand,” says David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “The level of concern that customers have about health affects how they choose to shop – online or in-store – and the loss of income impacts where consumers shop and what they buy."
Barrington, Ill.-based Brick Meets Click focuses on digital and was founded by Bill Bishop, a long-time thought leader in retail, who was just named one of the newest inductees into the Private Label Hall of Fame by the Private Label Manufacturers Association.
“The ongoing shifts in spending mean that retailers will need to work carefully in applying historical sales data to forecast future sales, if they are going to be accurately aligned with shoppers,” said Kevin Sterneckert, chief marketing officer of Symphony RetailAI. “True demand, which includes lost sales and other characteristics beyond transactions at the register, is crucially important here. Today’s retail winners will be those that best understand their customers and can meet and exceed their expectations the fastest.”
Symphony RetailAI's Shaina Finch recently shared guest commentary on how to manage the supply chain during COVID-19.