Online Shoppers Spend More, Struggle More Financially: Dunnhumby Study

As consumers further adopt online buying into their grocery routine, consumer data firm dunnhumby notes in its Consumer Trends Tracker (CTT) report that omnichannel shoppers not only struggle more financially but also are less loyal to any one retailer despite the fact that their grocery spend is higher overall.

Omnichannel shoppers spend 1.5 times more on groceries than in-store-only shoppers but spread their dollars across up to two times as many retailers, dunnhumby found. In addition, households that shop online are 6% more likely to have skipped or decreased the size of a meal for financial reasons and 10% more likely to have difficulty covering an unexpected expense, the consumer data firm said in a statement.

"What really stands out in this report is that while 60% of all households with children are doing some of their shopping online and despite being higher earners on average than brick-and-mortar only shoppers, they are struggling more financially, and some reported they have had to skip or cut back on meals," said Grant Steadman, president for North America at dunnhumby, in a statement. "This indicates an evolution from the orthodoxy that the online and omnichannel shoppers value convenience above all and are not price-sensitive. This study suggests that is not always the case."

Convenience isn't always the top priority, but it still counts: While similar shares of in-store (70%) vs. online (72%) shoppers said it was very or extremely important that the retailer they were shopping with had lower prices than other retailers, "when forced to make trade-offs," according to dunnhumby, "e-commerce shoppers more carefully balance time savings with money savings, while brick-and-mortar shoppers are two times more likely to choose a store because of prices."

The channels with the highest e-commerce penetration are mass (29%), traditional format (24%) and pure-play (17%), dunnhumby reported, but online shoppers are less adventurous with their e-commerce vs. in-store purchases.

Dunnhumby surveyed more than 2,000 consumers in May about their grocery shopping needs, online shopping perceptions and their grocery-buying behaviors.

The new CTT report was issued in conjunction with the release of dunnhumby's first eCommerce Retailer Preference Index, which found consumers giving top e-commerce marks to San Antonio-based grocer H-E-B. The grocer "has increased its digital scores more than any retailer from 2018 to today," dunnhumby researchers noted.