Online shopping is reaching new heights amid the pandemic – and likely won’t be going away anytime soon.
ONLINE SALES UP IN FIRST MONTH OF 2021
Total U.S. online grocery sales reached $9.3 billion in January, up 15% from November 2020, according to a survey from BrickMeetsClick. The increase was largely driven by a 16% increase in the number of households buying online, with 78% engaged with either a delivery or pickup service.
The survey also showed a growing share of first-time online shoppers. The share of first-time customers climbed by 3 percentage points overall and more than 6 points for pickup in January 2021 compared to November.
CONSUMERS PLAN TO STICK TO COVID SHOPPING HABITS
A report from Acosta found that 75% of shoppers plan to stick to at least some of their new habits post-COVID. When asked about their shopping intentions after the pandemic, 21% reported they will go back to their pre-pandemic habits, while 59% will continue with some of their new habits, and 16% will continue with all or most habits.
Post-pandemic, top priorities for shoppers will be: product availability (60%), low prices (52%) and customer safety (42%).
SHOPPERS SPEND MORE FOR AT-HOME LIFESTYLES
In addition to consumers keeping some of their pandemic habits, they continue to spend on products that support their stay-at-home-lifestyles, according to NPD Group.
Throughout the pandemic, consumers purchased products that make staying at home easier. Spending at retail on these and other categories, reached $706 billion in 2020, which was a 1% increase over 2019.
Aided by the economic stimulus payments, consumers continued to spend on categories that made their lives at home more comfortable in the first six weeks of 2021.
