For American consumers, grocery shopping in-store is the preferred way. It is an experience that can be shared with the entire family or done alone. To date, online grocery shopping has not seriously impacted the way consumer get their consumable items.
Many consumers cite availability and convenience as their main reasons to not shopping online. Other reasons include the ability to touch and see what you are buying, and the convenience of a last-minute trips to the grocery store. Interesting enough, very few consumers who have shopped for groceries online have experienced bad experience or bad service.
Although online grocery shopping has not received wide-spread adoption, there is consumer growth in this area. There are success stories to glean from such as Peapod (24 markets) and Amazon Fresh in approximately 10 markets as of 2016. Amazon has proven success with online shopping and adding groceries (fresh and dry) seems like a natural progression. Since Peapod and Amazon Fresh are only in select markets, time will be an indication of consumer adoption and growth.
Marketers who are seeking niche audiences could benefit. When you think of the online shopper, in general terms, they tend to be early adopters and affluent households of annual earnings of $75,000 per year or more. They also skew toward male e-commerce shoppers making purchases on mobile devices and younger consumers with average e-commerce spending of $2,000 per year or more.
When you consider these general facts about e-commerce, one can begin to understand the benefit of targeting online grocery consumers. Their behavior online could drive a multitude of opportunity for a variety of businesses. This is just another way to consider how to usurp competitive pressures by exploring other market opportunities and determine how these opportunities may align with your company’s product or service.
Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant with 20+ years’ experience, freelance writer and author of “Elements of Buying” (a self-help advertising guide), available at Amazon.com. Adele was listed as Black Enterprise’s 2011 Top Execs in Marketing & Advertising and Black Enterprise’s 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]
