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ARLINGTON, Va. — For many shoppers, buying groceries is a hybrid affair, and it is likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future, as Americans balance the advantages of ordering online against a “deeply personal” relationship with food that lures them into the supermarket, according to the latest installment of an expansive shopper survey from FMI – The Food Industry Association.
“The recent wave of online shopping adoption and the growing variety of online methods may represent the most dramatic upheaval of the food shopping landscape we once knew,” said Leslie Sarasin, FMI’s president and chief executive officer. “Still, despite shoppers’ embrace of online grocery shopping, the in-person experience is here to stay. Food is deeply personal, and many shoppers still prefer shopping in person.”
Sarasin’s comments came as FMI released “Navigating a Hybrid World,” the third part of its 2022 series on U.S. grocery shopper trends. The most recent release explores the attitudes and behaviors of the hybrid shopper, who alternates between buying in stores and online.
The report finds that an expanding food retail marketplace has prompted new habits for shoppers who have embraced hybrid options and integrated them into their routines. In 2015, just 7% of shoppers reported ordering groceries online within the previous 30 days. By 2022, half of online food shoppers said they shop online at least once every two weeks. But those who shop online at least some of the time said that 70% of their grocery trips are done in-person, according to FMI’s research.
Digital shoppers are drawn to the online marketplace for its convenience and value.
Being able to see the total cost of their virtual shopping cart before checking out gives them more control and the opportunity to eliminate unnecessary purchases and stay within their budgets.
Additionally, 62% of online-reliant shoppers believe shopping virtually is a more efficient use of time, FMI finds, and 40% say they are more likely to discover new items when filling their carts through retailers’ websites and apps.
Offsetting these advantages, online ordering requires shoppers to cede some control in terms of being able to touch and choose items themselves.
Nearly half of shoppers (43%) believe they get better quality products when they shop in-store, as opposed to just 17% who believe the same about online shopping.
The FMI report spotlights the pandemic as a critical inflection point, accelerating the demand for and supply of online shopping capabilities in response to health and safety concerns.
Those advancements were made possible by existing technologies as well as shopper adoption of digital tools at various touchpoints throughout the shopping journey. In other words, the state of food sourcing today represents an extension of trends that have slowly and steadily impacted food shopping for decades. Importantly, these changes exist both inside and outside of the store, touching retailers, manufacturers and shoppers alike and impacting every aspect of food sourcing.
The rise of the hybrid shopper presents retailers with exciting opportunities to better engage with consumers by improving and streamlining the overall shopping experience, online and in stores, FMI says.
