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The Post-COVID Consumer: The Future of Brick and Mortar Stores
7
Online grocery shopping was one of the few product
categories where ecommerce wasn't seeing rapid growth
before the pandemic. It had an abysmal adoption rate:
just 11% of consumers said they bought groceries online
once a month.
Now, some surveys suggest that figure is as high as 68%.
The biggest obstacle to online grocery shopping was that
consumers wanted to physically inspect and select
their produce. Now, those who have tried it have learned
that they can trust businesses to select quality food. Plus,
they've discovered that buying online can eliminate hours
of driving, parking and wandering the aisles. This makes it
especially appealing to consumers with mobility issues or
busy schedules, and these demographics will still be drawn
to online grocery shopping post-COVID.
So, are local grocery stores in danger if they don't roll out
online shopping solutions? Absolutely not. But consumers
are now far more accustomed to buying even unusual
product categories online, and some of them will come to
favor local stores that facilitate the options they've become
used to.
As in-person shopping picks up, post-COVID consumers are
going to expect more product categories to be available
online.
Buying groceries online
