Some numbers from a new Oracle Grocery Retail survey:
• "53% of respondents in the U.S. have shopped online for groceries during the pandemic, with 37% stocking up more frequently online than in-store. And few people plan to reverse course – 93% of those surveyed said they plan to shop online for groceries post-pandemic, with 74% noting they will order groceries the same amount or more as they are doing currently."
• "When it comes to online grocery ordering, the vast majority of consumers opt for home delivery: 72% - have groceries delivered to their home … 13% - pick them up inside the store … 15% - collect their groceries curbside."
• "With grocery shortages during the pandemic, 86% of shoppers explored store owned brands and private label alternatives, with some having no plans of returning to their old favorites … 32% - intend to stick with the store brands … 34% - will shop a mix of new finds and preferred brands … 20% - will go back to preferred brands."
• "A significant percentage of all age groups surveyed have ordered groceries online during the pandemic, with Generation X leading the way: 72% - Gen X (40-54) … 61% - Gen Z (18-24) … 60% - Millennials (25-39) … 30% - Boomers (55+)."
• "With more shoppers eating at home and looking for inspiration, meal subscription increased: 22% already had a food or meal subscription they continued … 10% already enjoyed one food or meal subscription service and added another … 4% started a new food or meal subscription for the first time."
- KC's View:
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Pretty much from the early days of the pandemic, the sense here was that it would be a transformative event in terms of consumer behavior and confidence, and that retailers needed to start putting together small teams to consider how they would be fundamentally different coming out of the pandemic than they were going in. Retailers that did not perform this exercise and act on their conclusions would be likely to find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. (Though it probably is fair to say that the best retailers perform this exercise all the time, and that bad and mediocre retailers revel in their own ignorance until it is too late, at which point they look around to see who or what they can blame for their tribulations.)
And so, I refer you to the Oracle conclusions above and ask … have you changed enough to capture these changing customer preferences and satisfy these evolving customer needs? (I'm actually not sure there is such a thing as enough … but you get my point.)
