“The mass format, and particularly Walmart, continues to attract a larger share of MAUs as households search for ways to save money,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click.
“The share of MAUs who bought from mass has grown over 11 percent since last year, finishing at more than 50 percent this October,” he said.
The total number of eGrocery orders placed during October fell by about 3 percent versus last year, brought down by a drop in ship-to-home volume and a more modest dip in pickup orders. Delivery bucked the downward trend, growing in the month, fueled by stronger volume coming from mass.
Strong growth in the cross-shopping rate between mass and grocery is another sign that many households may be attempting to economize. In October, the percentage of customers who bought groceries online from both grocery and mass during the month set a record high, as over 34 percent of grocery’s MAU base also shopped for groceries online with a mass retailer. Mass continued to outperform grocery, finishing the month with a nearly 10 point lead over grocery.
“As today’s regional grocers focus on improving operational aspects of their online grocery services, they continue to face stiff headwinds from economic and competitive pressures,” said Sylvain Perrier, president and CEO of Mercatus. “To mitigate these challenges, grocers should identify ways to differentiate their online shopping experience, such as highlighting private label products, amplifying personalization efforts, and/or offering unique rewards and promotions that include product sampling.”
Online sales across all formats accounted for 12.5 percent of total weekly grocery spending during the last week of October.
