According to CNN, the outbreak of the coronavirus is pushing many Americans to buy their groceries online. With shoppers stuck in their homes, downloads of Walmart's grocery app and Shipt increased by 160%, and 124%, respectively, in early March compared with the same period last year. Instacart more than tripled, increasing by 218%!
While shopping for books and electronics online, and ordering dinner through delivery apps, have become the norm in American life, before the coronavirus outbreak most customers still preferred to purchase their meat and vegetables at the store. Last year, only 4% of grocery sales in the United States were made online.
According to a survey by analysts at Gordon Haskett Research Advisor, a third of consumers said that they had purchased groceries for online pickup or delivery in March, 2020. Around 41% said they were buying groceries online for the first time.
Big grocers like Walmart have been experimenting with new ways to fulfill online orders in the past few years. However, analysts say that consumers adopting online grocery shopping may add to the pressure small and mid-sized grocers already face, since they don't have as much capital to invest in building an online delivery infrastructure.
