Online grocery sales in May 2024 decreased month over month and year over year, according to data from the monthly Brick Meets Click and Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey.
The drop resulted from fewer pickup sales — which include in-store, curbside, from lockers and drive-up — in May 2024 than in 2023. Pickup sales were also fewer than in April 2024 (and 2023, for that matter). May 2024 data was based on a survey of 1,724 adults in the United States, Brick Meets Click said.
Moreover, pickup sales dropped despite a 3% increase in overall monthly active users (MAUs), according to Brick Meets Click. The analytics firm attributed this to growth in MAUs to lapsed users buying online again in May.
“What pulled down monthly sales results was a 6% decline in order frequency combined with a slight decline in AOV,” Brick Meets Click said in a statement.
Brick Meets Click and Mercatus define the three receiving methods for online grocery sales as:
- Delivery: Includes orders received from a first- or third-party provider like Instacart, Shipt or the retailer’s own employees.
- Pickup: Includes orders received by customers either inside or outside a store or at a designated location/locker.
- Ship-to-home: Includes orders that are received via common or contract carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.
What impacted May online grocery sales?
Online grocery sales in May fell slightly, to $6.8 billion in 2024 from $6.9 billion in 2023.
“Customers appreciate the convenience of online grocery shopping, but they are increasingly looking for ways to save money as inflation has taken a toll on the household wallet,” said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth officer at Mercatus, in a statement. “While digital deals are a good start, it’s crucial to focus on more targeted, personalized, contextual offers based on past purchases, shopper profiles, preferences, or search behavior to better engage and retain customers.”
The largest receiving method, pickup, accounted for fewer online sales this May: $3.3 billion. That’s a 3.9% drop from $3.5 billion in May 2023.
The next-largest method, delivery, drew in the same amount of sales in May 2024 and 2023: $2.2 billion. The only method to generate an increase in sales was ship-to-home. It brought in $1.3 billion in May 2024, compared to $1.2 billion in 2023. That’s 9% growth.
“During May, Delivery benefited from deep discounts related to annual memberships offered first by Instacart (80% off) and later in the month by Walmart (50% off),” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click, in the statement. “These promotions likely drove Delivery’s strong jump in MAUs and show how players like Instacart and Walmart are attempting to keep active customers engaged by getting them to commit to 12 months instead of just one.”
Read last month’s update here.
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