BARRINGTON, ILL. – The total US online grocery market posted $8.1 billion in sales during November as 60.1 million US households placed on average 2.8 orders during the month, finds the latest grocery shopping survey from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus.  

Monthly sales have remained above $8 billion since May with delivery and pickup services playing an increasingly essential role in meeting grocery needs. Delivery and pickup segments captured 73% of the online sales in November and active delivery and pickup shoppers reported a record-high repeat intent rate of 83%.   

“Concerns about contracting the virus, stay-at-home orders or retail restrictions motivated many to try a service within the last nine months, and now a significant share of those households considers online shopping a desirable alternative to an in-store trip,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “This presents opportunities as well as threats to established business models and practices.”  

In November, online grocery sales attributed to delivery and pickup increased 3.6% compared to August 2020. November’s improvement was largely driven by higher order volume, which increased more than 5% from August levels to 62.7 million monthly orders.  

One leading indicator, “likelihood to use a specific service again,” recorded a new high score showing customer satisfaction. For November, 83% of the monthly active users of delivery or pickup indicated that they are extremely or very likely to use the most recent service again within the next 30 days, which was up eight points versus August 2020 and up 40 points from March 2020. 

“Now that we’re months into the pandemic, we’re seeing online grocery shopping becoming engrained among US consumers,” said Sylvain Perrier, president and chief executive officer of Mercatus. “This behavior change shifts the strategic conversation for grocers from acquisition to increasing conversion and retention by driving strong digital engagement. For grocery retailers, the question now becomes how best to provide a differentiated experience that maintains their newly acquired online customers. The answer lies in offering innovative digital solutions and a seamless, rich multi-channel experience.”