REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Nov. 18,
2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Oracle Grocery
Retail survey shows that 53% of respondents in the U.S. have
shopped online for groceries during the pandemic, with 37% stocking
up more frequently online than in-store. And few people plan to
reverse course – 93% of those surveyed said they plan to shop
online for groceries post-pandemic, with 74% noting they will order
groceries the same amount or more as they are doing currently.
This trend will extend into the busy Thanksgiving holiday, where
21% of consumers plan to order groceries online, and 59% plan to
head into the store to buy the fixings for their feast.
"Online grocery ordering is not new, but the pandemic was the
tipping point to take it mainstream," said Mike Webster, senior vice president and general
manager, Oracle Retail. "Grocery retailers were left grappling with
both supply chain issues and consumer behavior that was
anything but normal - causing chaos and shortages. While stores
navigated relatively quickly, the data shows that consumers have no
plans to return to their old ways. Grocers need to examine what
that means for their operations, store layouts, and everything
in-between as we all move forward."
The Untold Insights survey, conducted on behalf of Oracle
Retail, polled 521 consumers in the
United States in September
2020 about their COVID-19 shopping habits and another 500 in
November 2020 about their plans for
the holiday season.
Door-side delivery
When it comes to online grocery
ordering, the vast majority of consumers opt for home delivery:
- 72% - have groceries delivered to their home
- 13% - pick them up inside the store
- 15% - collect their groceries curbside
"Grocery retailers have done a good job using physical stores as
makeshift warehouses to fulfill orders and get them out quickly to
customers," added Webster. "However, they need to carefully balance
the disruption of delivery services and store-workers fulfilling
online orders with customers trying to shop in-store. This includes
both crowding in the aisles as well as the risk of out-of-stock
inventory. It will be especially crucial in the high-volume holiday
timeframe with customers adding pressure both online and
in-store."
Loyalties tested
With grocery shortages during the
pandemic, 86% of shoppers explored store owned brands and private
label alternatives, with some having no plans of returning to
their old favorites.
- 32% - intend to stick with the store brands
- 34% - will shop a mix of new finds and preferred brands
- 20% - will go back to preferred brands
"The surge in private label purchases has become the unexpected
silver lining of COVID-19 for grocers," added Webster. "Consumers
uninterested in trying something new were forced to branch out due
to shortages and now plan to stick with their new finds. This
allows grocers an opportunity to increase brand affinity with
customers and, in turn, their margins."
Grandparents try online ordering
A significant
percentage of all age groups surveyed have ordered groceries online
during the pandemic, with Generation X leading the way:
- 72% - Gen X (40-54)
- 61% - Gen Z (18-24)
- 60% - Millennials (25-39)
- 30% - Boomers (55+)
Although Boomers represented the lowest total overall, this age
group saw a 173% increase in those who had ordered groceries during
COVID-19 versus before the pandemic. Moreover, 83% of this
demographic plan to continue ordering groceries online.
Interestingly, those with kids were also more than twice as likely
to order groceries online (82%) versus those without children
(36%).
Stockpiling has eased; toilet paper still tops
Despite
COVID-19 winter warnings, shoppers are worrying less about
shortages of essential items. Just 28% of those polled are planning
to stockpile household essentials and pantry staples,
including:
- 69% - Toilet paper
- 69% - Cleaning products
- 54% - Canned fruits and vegetables
- 50% - Meat
- 48% - Soup
- 48% - Pasta
- 46% - Rice
Interest in food subscription boxes grew
With more
shoppers eating at home and looking for inspiration, meal
subscriptions increased:
- 22% already had a food or meal subscription they continued
- 10% already enjoyed one food or meal subscription service and
added another
- 4% started a new food or meal subscription for the first
time
To learn more about how Oracle Retail is helping customers and
retailers prepare for the holiday seasons, visit:
www.oracle.com/retail and
https://www.oracle.com/industries/retail/grocery.html
About Oracle Retail
Oracle is the platform for modern
retail. Oracle provides retailers with a complete, open, and
integrated platform for leading retail solutions, cloud services,
and hardware that are engineered to work together. Innovative
retailers use Oracle solutions to pivot to customer and to drive
agility across the business. Oracle Retail customers can deliver an
authentic customer experience while protecting their people,
processes, brand, and customers. For more information, visit our
website www.oracle.com/retail.
About Oracle
The Oracle Cloud offers a complete suite
of integrated applications for Sales, Service, Marketing, Human
Resources, Finance, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing, plus Highly
Automated and Secure Generation 2 Infrastructure featuring the
Oracle Autonomous Database. For more information about Oracle
(NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com.
Trademarks
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks
of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of
their respective owners.
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SOURCE Oracle