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Insights Into the Omnichannel Grocery Shopper
Survey from Chicory finds food blogs and recipe sites are the go-to source for meal inspiration online. A recent survey from Chicory finds food blogs and recipe sites are the go-to source for meal inspiration online, suggesting that “winning at the shelf requires meeting consumers in moments of inspiration.”
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In today’s omnichannel world—in which 66% of consumers have purchased groceries online in the past 60 days, according to digital shopper marketing platform Chicory—"winning at the shelf requires meeting consumers in moments of inspiration, well before they hit the retailer's store or site,” Chicory co-founder and CEO Yuni Sameshima said.
For its Omnichannel Grocery Shopper in 2022 report, Chicory surveyed 1,076 American consumers, ages 18 to 85, on March 9, to better understand how today's consumers are meal planning and grocery shopping.
Among the key findings was that more than half (52%) of respondents exhibit omnichannel meal-planning preferences: Thirty-nine percent like to plan both online and offline, and 13% like to plan online only. Online meal planning, Chicory noted, includes using digital recipes, coupon sites, list-building apps and digital shopping carts.
"For the second year in a row, respondents identified food blogs and recipe sites as their go-to sources for meal inspiration online," Sameshima said. "If brands and retailers aren't yet leveraging off-site content to acquire new customers, they need to start."
Sixty-four percent of survey respondents said they go to food blogs and recipe sites to find meal inspiration online, followed by YouTube and Pinterest, tied at 32%, Facebook (28%), Instagram (24%), a brand’s website (23%), TikTok (22%) and a grocery retailer’s website (15%).
Recognizing the need to make recipes “easily shoppable in a few taps,” Instacart recently launched Shoppable Recipes that allow TikTok users—as well as those of Tasty and Hearst Magazines’ properties such as Delish and Good Housekeeping—to discover new recipes and add the ingredients to their carts at the same time.
Other insights from Chicory’s survey include:
Men and women shop for groceries online at the same rate: Sixty-six percent of women and 66% of men reported having purchased groceries online in the past 60 days. Though, women express more of a preference for online shopping than men, Chicory noted.
Respondents who are 30 to 40 years old grocery shop online at the highest rate, with 75% in that age group reporting they have shopped for groceries online in the past 60 days. They are also most likely to prefer to shop online; however, Chicory said there are no massive differences in shopping preferences across age groups.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents have visited a grocery retailer’s website or app in the past 60 days. The most common reason for their visits is not to purchase groceries, but to search for sales, discounts and coupons (53%).
Price is the top consideration for purchasing a product again (71%), and it's the factor most likely to drive someone to change preferred retailers (65%). During times of inflation, however, when it’s harder to win on price, Chicory said it’s important to focus on making products easily accessible, by investing in solutions that get products in the hands of consumers more easily.
