Online grocery sales reached $10.5 billion in October, a record high that represents a 28% year over year increase, according to the Brick Meets Click / Mercatus Grocery Shopper Survey released earlier this week and reported on by Supermarket News. According to the survey, all three receiving methods – delivery, pickup, and ship-to-home – posted gains.
Delivery channels saw the biggest growth, increasing 46% to $4.8 billion. Grocery pickup increased by 20% to $4.2 billion, and ship-to-home climbed 6% to $1.5 billion. Across all three methods, the monthly average user base grew by 1.6% with 54% of U.S. households making an online grocery order for the month.
The positive results were largely driven by grocers offering deep discounts on loyalty programs, according to the report. Kroger, Walmart and Instacart all offered discounts on their membership programs.
“Delivery is riding its next growth curve, fueled not simply by subscriptions or membership offers, but by promotional pitches that incent the customer to commit for a year,” Brick Meets Click partner David Bishop said in a press release. “While firms occasionally revert to their standard ‘free trial’ offers, the surge of new discount tactics seem to have a broader appeal that extends beyond the existing customers of the retailer or provider offering it.”
