Digital grocery sales pick up steam in October

This year’s holiday season is expected to see more omnichannel grocery shoppers than ever, and grocers are getting ready, according to a new report by Incisiv and Wynshop.  

The Grocery Doppio “State of the Digital Grocery Performance Scorecard,” released Wednesday, revealed that 83% of 38,113 shoppers surveyed plan to use grocers’ online stores and apps this year, while 78% said they’ll buy both in-store and online.  

More than one in five (21%) said they plan to buy most of their groceries online during the holiday season.  

"It's beginning to look a lot like an omnichannel Christmas," said Gaurav Pant, chief insights officer of both Incisiv and Grocery Doppio, in a statement. "As cold weather sets in, shoppers struggle with busy schedules, and grocers extend digital promotions and convenient fulfillment options, shoppers will utilize all the channels at their disposal." 

That has grocers preparing for the holiday wave of digital shoppers. Eighty-six percent of grocers said they are conducting online stress testing and optimization, while 77% are increasing digital promotions and discounts, 74% are expanding delivery and pickup options, 69% are improving their inventory visibility options and 47% are preparing personalized offers.  

"This year, grocers are more prepared than ever for digital grocery," added Charlie Kaplan, chief revenue officer at Wynshop, in a statement. "Industry leaders are using digital technology to amp up online traffic and ensure that they have the inventory transparency and fulfillment efficiency to maintain happy holiday customers." 

Separately, the survey showed that pickup was the fulfillment method of choice in October, growing 8.2% month over month to capture 52.3% of all digital orders. They figure is expected to grow even higher during the holidays, as 62% of shoppers said they intend to use pickup even more over the next few weeks.  

Digital grocery sales were up for the month, representing 13.2% of all sales and regaining momentum from the previous six months. The $11 billion in digital sales for the month was a 6.8% increase from September and its highest level in six months, the report said.