A year of North American grocery e-commerce and 6 takeaways in 2021

The pandemic has changed grocery e-commerce . According to research by North American data company , sales of the entire online grocery market in the United States were $ 8.1 billion in November, with 60.1 million American households placing an average of 2.8 orders that month .

Based on last year's grocery e-commerce performance, the data analysis company proposed the trends of North American grocery e-commerce in 2021 and made relevant predictions, believing that 2021 will be the year of North American grocery e-commerce.

Grocery e-commerce sales continue to grow

The pandemic has been a major catalyst for accelerating the e-commerce of groceries . Research for Incisiv shows that by 2025 , online grocery sales will account for 21.5 % of total grocery sales, estimated at $ 250 billion, more than 60% higher than pre-pandemic estimates . Until most of the population is vaccinated, many people will continue to work from home and spend more time at home. This means that consumers will maintain the growth trend of grocery e-commerce in 2021 .

Retailers must continue to evolve their e-commerce offerings to meet demand for online options. Consumers will favor grocers that invest in improving their online ordering and delivery experience in the coming years.

Rapid adoption of grocery automation

Due to the pandemic, grocery retailers must improve delivery efficiencies, whether that’s zone picking , wave picking , curbside pickup or implementing other picking and delivery solutions.

As the pandemic continues, there will also be a need to provide relief to frontline workers in the food retail and manufacturing industries. As a result, more grocers and CPGs will adopt automation and mechanization to handle the increased demand for scarce products in certain categories while also protecting employees.

Meal kits are making a comeback

Meal kits have already seen significant growth in 2020, but they will go mainstream in 2021 as grocers increase their offerings with more grocery items .

2021 will provide retailers with an opportunity to reinvent and revitalize the meal kit process. With hot plate sections in some stores closed for hygiene reasons, it makes sense to make quick purchases for the convenience of pre-set meals in stores. At the same time, meal kit suppliers that sell direct-to-consumer will continue to expand into grocery retail, offering grocery staples alongside meal kits to increase market share.

Rethinking strategy

Grocery stores are reaching a new level of online sales, requiring greater control yet greater flexibility. How can they effectively scale to meet the growing demand for e-commerce pickup and delivery? What services can retailers offer? Where can they improve their digital offerings? Every online retailer of any size needs to do this exercise to prepare their business and protect market share.

The successful grocers will be those that integrate a multi-layered architecture into their existing ecosystem of third-party solutions. This will give them control over their operations and margins, and the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.

A wave of retail acquisitions and bankruptcies among grocery stores

Amazon will quickly expand its grocery presence through partnership arrangements (if not outright acquisitions), and competitors will begin to consolidate. And once a vaccine is available, grocers without trade will not be able to stay afloat when sales drop. This makes it more important than ever for grocers to look beyond the pandemic. They need to think about expanding their revenue streams and how to get CPG ad spend online.

Improving the affordability of e-commerce

As more Americans lose their jobs, reliance on programs like SNAP and WIC has increased significantly. Grocery stores that want to attract more shoppers need to consider how to make it easier to pay for program money in stores. This includes offering online SNAP payments, but more importantly, leveraging e-commerce sites to increase discoverability of eligible products for shoppers and help them build their shopping baskets within their budgets.

2021

North America

Grocery e-commerce