Remote workers continue to fuel online grocery shopping

It probably comes as no surprise that remote and hybrid workers are more likely to order their groceries online, but a new study shows that in some cases they’re more than twice as likely to do so than their in-person counterparts. 

While they might have more time in the day to shop in person, remote and hybrid workers prefer online shopping, according to “The State of Food & Beverage,” a report by research data marketing company Morning Consult. 

Emily Moquin, the lead food and beverage analyst on the Morning Consult Industry Intelligence team, said in a blog post that 14% of workers at in-person jobs said they ordered groceries online on a weekly basis. A quarter of remote workers said they do so, and hybrid workers order food online at more than double the rate at 31%. 

“Not only do they place online grocery orders more often, but remote and hybrid workers are buying the bulk of their groceries that way,” Moquin wrote in the blog post. “Among those who bought groceries online, 71% of remote workers and 66% of hybrid workers said they got all or most of their groceries that way, compared with 44% of in-person workers.” 

The survey of U.S. adults, conducted from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5 and from Feb. 28 to March 4, also showed that remote and hybrid workers are also more likely to use apps for grocery shopping and meal planning.  

“This is partially demographically driven, as remote and hybrid workers skew toward demographics that tend to order groceries online the most: parents and high-income individuals,” Moquin wrote. “But it’s also driven by daily schedules and, in particular, what those schedules mean for car travel. Workers who are already at home might find it easier to place an online order than to make a special trip out of the house for groceries. 

According to a study released in August 2022 by technology, analytics and data firms Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) and The NPD Group (NPD), 20 million U.S. workers do so from home or through a hybrid of in-person and remote work. 

That is in part driving the trend of 62.5% of the food market headed to grocery stores and their online counterparts, and the remainder (37.5%) headed to restaurants and other foodservice outlets, the report noted. 

These trends are reflected in comments last year from Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran, who said in August that prepared meals sold at the stores, such as sandwiches and salads, are selling so well, it prompted the company to launch new options for its carry-out menu. “Our ready meals are doing so well, we just launched a sandwich program,” he said in August. “And the sandwich program, which is homemade sandwiches, they’re doing so well. And our convenient salads in our stores are doing so well.”