E-Grocery Shopping Trends in the U.S.

By June 2002, there were 17 grocers in the U.S. and Canada offering delivery services that allowed customers to order via the Internet or telephone. Within these grocers, some such as Peapod and FreshDirect offer services through the Internet without owning any retail store front while some supermarkets like Albertson’s, Safeway, Publix and Tesco have developed their online grocery services as another shopping option for their customers. Studying the profile of online grocery shoppers and their behaviors can help businesses to develop and improve their strategies. This paper will discuss the findings from a survey (1516 respondents) on e-grocery in the United States. Responses to such topics as demographics & psychographics, shopping patterns, online shopping experiences, mental, physical and time related considerations, opinions about shopping and buying on the internet and order sizes are discussed