Online Grocery Sales Fall Year-Over-Year in October

Online grocery sales were down 3% in October compared to last year, according to the monthly Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey.

Fielded Oct. 28-29, the report found the U.S. online grocery market, including private label sales, hit $7.8 billion in sales in the month of October, a small decline from October 2021. All three segments (pickup, delivery and ship-to-home) saw decreases in spending per transaction, declining 5% in aggregate versus the same period last year. Order frequency for October fell nearly 7% as well.

“As grocery retailers look to strengthen their share of monthly active online grocery shoppers, they should focus on working smarter, not harder,” said Sylvain Perrier, president and CEO of Mercatus. “This means making sure that your assortment is accurately reflected online, the online ordering process is engaging and streamlined, and there are no unfortunate surprises for customers during the order assembly and receiving process.”

Inflation played a role in online grocery shopping in October. Average dollars spent on groceries per household during the last week of October increased 15% versus last year. During that period, online’s share of spending dipped around 50 basis points, accounting for 11.6% of total grocery sales in October of this year.

“Beneath the top-line results, the monthly active user base grew much faster for mass than for grocery versus last year which may be driven to some degree by inflation’s impact on household spending, but it also reflects the ability of ,ass to provide a better shopping experience,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “Improving the shopping experience is vital for conventional supermarkets’ long-term success as the appeal of shopping online has more to do with convenience than cost."