U.S. online grocery sales up 18.52% in December

Consumers continue to spend more of their grocery dollars online with total U.S. e-grocery sales of $9.6 billion in December, up 18.52% compared with December 2023, according to Brick Meets Click/Mercatus. For the full year, online grocery sales are up 9%.

Mercatus reports the last five months of 2024 online grocery sales totaled more than $9.5 billion, up 17.7% from the same months in 2023. Online grocery sales in the first half of 2024 posted a slim gain of 0.3% from the prior-year period. Mercatus notes the biggest difference between the first and second halves of 2024 was the aggressive promotion of annual subscriptions or memberships that began in mid-year and have continued. Discounts, ranging from 33% to 80% off, were seen from mass retailers and supermarkets.

“While subscriptions and memberships aren’t new, the deep discounts were new, and they resonated with customers by offering the opportunity for significant savings,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “As a result, customers are more vested in their provider-of-choice, motivating many to place more orders which helps those providers to gain a larger share of the grocery wallet and improve engagement and retention rates.”

Mercatus reports online grocery delivery increased from 4% in the first half of 2024 to more than 25% in the second half. The ship-to-home growth rate also increased from 5% to 20% between the two periods. Pickup declined 4% in the January-June period and posted a gain of nearly 8% during the July-December period.

In December, online grocery delivery orders increased 24.6% to $4 billion, accounting for 41.7% of total e-grocery sales. A year ago, online delivery mode accounted for 39.8% of the total e-grocery share. That share growth came from the pickup model which reported December sales rose 5.3% to $3.8 billion. The pickup model ceded share to finish 2024 at 39.4%. Ship-to-home sales surged to $1.8 billion in December, up nearly 40% and accounting for 18.9% of total sales. Ship-to-home also took share away from the pickup mode.

Mercatus reports that traditional grocery operators continue to face fierce competition from mass retailers as shoppers chase bargains. The report found more than half of the monthly active users in the survey completed one or more online grocery orders at a mass retailer like Walmart during December. One-third of monthly average userscompleted an online order with a grocery supermarket or deep discounter like Aldi.

Mercatus said when it comes to the likelihood that a customer will use the same service again within the next 30 days, mass retailers continue to post stronger repeat intent rates for delivery and pickup services than grocery supermarkets although gaps have narrowed versus last year.

“Regional grocers looking to boost eGrocery sales should focus on delivering real savings and targeted loyalty perks,” said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth marketing officer at Mercatus. “By leveraging AI-driven personalization and integrated loyalty solutions, grocers can convert occasional shoppers into loyal digital customers, driving repeat orders and larger baskets across both online and in-store channels, to fuel sustained growth.”

Following are online grocery sales in 2024 compared to the prior year, according to Brick Meets Click/Mercatus.

January: $8.5 billion, up 1.8%
February: $7.9 billion, down 10.5%
March:$8 billion, flat
April: $8.5 billion, up 4.4%
May: $6.8 billion, down 0.4%
June: $7.7 billion, up 8.4%
July: $7.2 billion, down 7%
August: $9.9 billion, up 7%
September $9.5 billion, up  27%
October:: $10.5 billion, up 28%
November: $10.6 billion, up 17.8%
December: $9.6 billion, up 18.52%