Brick-and-Mortar Still Beats Online for Groceries

Supermarkets may be one segment that has not been completely disrupted by online competition, at least not yet. According to a study by TABS Analytics ( via Nation’s Restaurant News ), conventional brick-and-mortar supermarkets, including Walmart, remain the preferred outlets for grocery shopping among consumers.

The study surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults, 75 percent of whom cited traditional grocery stores as their regular source for groceries. That’s good news for supermarkets for now, but the trend is not promising. Compared to last year’s survey, two-percent fewer consumers cited brick-and-mortar supermarkets as their preferred venue. Curiously, two-to-four-percent more consumers this year cited dollar stores and drug stores as their grocery-shopping preference.

According to the study, “Large-format outlets — mass market, food and club — account for 57 percent of transactions, while small-format — dollar and drugstores, convenience stores and value grocery — is only 38 percent. Despite the disparity, small-format and online are gaining at the expense of larger format, with the biggest increases coming from small-format brick-and-mortar, not e-commerce.”

Predictably, among online food-and-beverage retailers, Amazon was the most preferred venue, cited by 24 percent of consumers surveyed.