In April, a census-balanced panel of over 2,700 American customers was polled, and the results reveal that 87% of food purchases are done in physical stores, while only 12% are made online.
Despite supermarkets’ major investments in digital platforms and efforts to boost eCommerce usage, brick-and-mortar stores continue to prosper.
Consider Kroger, the nation’s largest pure-play grocer, which has been developing automated fulfillment operations for digital orders across the country. According to claims made by the firm’s technology partner, British online grocery shop Ocado, the implementation was stalled early this spring.
Ocado CEO Tim Steiner is quoted as saying, “They are committed to building more, they just want to make those [existing] ones work as well as they can before they roll out loads – very sensible thing to do.”
The remarks come weeks after Kroger discussed its continued digital drive at its most recent earnings conference; according to CFO Gary Millerchip, the retailer is “investing in technology to improve the customer proposition and augment personalization.”
While this is going on, grocery stores that have not made as big of an investment in their digital platforms are still reaping the rewards of the continued desire for in-person shopping. Think of Trader Joe’s, for example.
