Most Shopped: 2020's Most Trusted

In grocery this year, the pandemic drove shoppers en masse to both one-stop shops and those retailers with strong online ordering, curbside pickup and delivery services. Nearly 1 in 5 shoppers made their last grocery purchase online, finds BrandSpark. And among the online users, 72% intentionally avoided going to physical stores due to COVID-19.

Shopped ‘Most Often’ for Groceries by Region

Given these trends, Walmart remains the most shopped grocery store in 2020 (with 66% of respondents shopping the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer in the past six months), but Amazon Fresh—which had an online presence but only opened the doors of its first location (Woodland Hills, Calif.) to in-store shoppers in September—grew the most across all retail stores in the U.S., up 4 percentage points to capture 10% of shoppers in the past six months. After Walmart, Aldi (28%), Target (27%), Kroger (24%), Sam’s Club (19%), and Costco (19%) rounded out the top five.

Shopped Online for Grocery in Past Year

Nearly half of American shoppers purchased groceries online from Walmart in the past year. Walmart dual offering of Walmart Grocery and mail delivery orders boosts the store.

Walmart is also dominating in e-commerce, with nearly half of American shoppers (46%) reporting having purchased groceries online from the retailer in the past year. In comparison, the remaining top five retailers for online purchases trail behind: Target (15%), Kroger (15%), Amazon Fresh (13%) and Sam’s Club (10%).

Usage of Retailer’s Mobile App

More than half of Amazon Fresh Shoppers used its mobile app.

% of own shoppers in past six months

When it comes to frequency of visits in the past six months, BrandSpark finds that Stop & Shop, Amazon Fresh, Publix and Winn-Dixie gained the most regular shoppers vs. last year. But break down the most shopped grocers by region, and once again the rankings change—save for widespread Walmart, with its more than 4,750 U.S. stores.

Grocery Services Used by Shoppers

More than half of shoppers have used online grocery services this year, an increase of 17 points from last year. Curbside pickup gained the most among all online grocery services.

“The competitive landscape differs greatly across regions, with Walmart the only constant as the most visited grocery destination,” says Philip Scrutton, BrandSpark’s VP Shopper Insights. In the Northeast, Walmart, Stop & Shop and ShopRite comprise the three most shopped, while in the South, Walmart, Kroger and Publix take the top spots. In the Midwest, Walmart is once again No. 1, followed by Kroger and Aldi. Finally, in the West, it’s Walmart, Safeway and Kroger (with Safeway parent company Albertsons coming in at No. 4).

Best COVID-19 Responding Store

Of all the grocery stores in the U.S., shoppers believe that H-E-B and Publix responded the best to COVID-19.

% of own shoppers in past six months

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