US supermarket chains such as Kroger have experienced a surge in online grocery sales during the pandemic, which GlobalData expects to continue for the foreseeable future.

Ryan Whittaker, Consumer analyst at GlobalData, offers his view:

“COVID-19 has caused consumers to spend more time at home; people cook and eat more meals in the home where previously they would’ve relied upon on-the-go consumption and foodservice. Furthermore, brick-and-mortar shopping has an in-built risk attached to it that it didn’t before. Consumers turning increasingly to e-commerce for groceries is a completely logical step, and GlobalData expects online grocery sales to continue to dominate for the foreseeable future.

“GlobalData’s most recent consumer survey* found that many global consumers have shifted to the e-commerce channel to buy their groceries and will continue to do so. In fact, GlobalData found that two thirds (66%) of US consumers were expecting to spend the same or more time buying groceries online for the foreseeable future*. US millennials are leading this embrace, having grown up with the internet in every part of their daily lives.”

* COVID-19 week 7 recovery consumer survey, combining “I have never spent time on this but will start doing so now”; “I intend to spend slightly more time on this than before”; “I intend to spend significantly more time on this than before”; and “I intend to spend the same time on this as before.”