“Delivery’s high growth rate for May is an outlier and reflects the cumulative impact of wave after wave of promotional activity that began fueling stronger sales for the service method in June 2024,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “While these promotions generally appeal to existing customers, Walmart’s effort is also helping the retailer to attract new customers. But, either way, it’s helping to grow delivery’s user base, order frequency and AOV.”
Pickup sales fell 3.6 percent year-over-year to $3.2 billion in May 2025. The sales decline happened despite mid-single-digit growth of the method’s MAU base that could not offset a drop in order frequency and slightly lower AOV.
Ship-to-home appears to benefit indirectly from delivery’s boom, mainly in mass, as the method surged 20.7 percent YOY in May 2025 to $1.5 billion. The ability to buy products from pure-plays at prices on par with physical stores and enjoy free shipping from an expanding range of providers is likely one factor triggering higher demand.
As for customers who completed at least one eGrocery order during the month, the overall base of MAUs — which includes all receiving methods and retail formats — expanded more than 10 percent in May 2025 versus last year, but the expansion was not evenly distributed. Delivery’s specific MAU base grew three times that rate YOY and Walmart saw its MAU base for all three online grocery methods expand about one and one-half times faster than the overall rate.
Overall eGrocery order frequency rose over 10 percent YOY in May 2025, due almost entirely to increases connected with delivery. Pickup’s rate contracted, and ship-to-home’s rate grew but to a smaller degree than delivery. These results are not surprising since delivery is the primary beneficiary of the numerous membership and subscription offers flooding the market over the last twelve months as these programs motivate increased usage.
The weighted average AOV, based on sales across all three methods, posted a small YOY gain of just under 4 percent. As with order frequency, delivery reported the highest YOY increase and double the gain posted by ship-to-home while pickup AOV contracted slightly.
“These results show how quickly shopper demand has shifted to delivery over the last 12 months, raising the stakes for regional grocers,” said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth marketing officer for Mercatus. “While collaborating with delivery platforms is often essential for grocers, the key is to ensure that these partnerships strengthen — not weaken — their connection with the customer. Regionals that control the digital experience, leverage pickup’s first-party strengths, and build trust through personalized experiences will be best positioned to retain loyalty and share as the market evolves.”
