54% of Grocery Shoppers Say They Won’t Buy Meat Online

Consumers may enjoy eCommerce convenience, but PYMNTS research shows most stick to brick-and-mortar for perishables.

For PYMNTS’ study “Changes in Grocery Shopping Habits and Perception,” we surveyed more than 2,400 U.S. consumers in December to understand how their grocery purchasing habits are evolving and the factors influencing these changes. The results revealed that, as consumers increasingly turn to eCommerce channels for packaged and shelf-stable goods, they continue to prefer brick-and-mortar for fresh foods and perishables.

The study found that, across grocery store product categories, only 44% of shoppers now make the majority of their purchases in stores. However, that share goes up for certain kinds of items. For instance, 54% primarily shop for fresh meat, chicken or fish in physical stores. Similarly, 53% do so for fresh fruits and vegetables.

While these categories, in which consumers may have particular preferences that would be difficult or impossible to communicate via eCommerce channels, may continue to be largely the purview of brick-and-mortar, other categories in which there is less product-to-product variability are increasingly getting digitized.

The study found that only 35% of consumers get the majority of their paper products and cleaning supplies from physical stores, and only a third do so for personal and healthcare products. The most digitized category by far is pet supplies with only 27% of consumers getting most of these items in stores.

In fact, some consumers have been entirely converted to digital, steering clear of physical stores altogether for high-trust categories such as packaged goods.

The study found that 55% of those who bought pet supplies exclusively used eCommerce channels, as did 50% of those who bought baby supplies, 48% of those who purchased personal and healthcare products and 46% of those who bought cleaning products. Conversely, only 29% of those who bought fresh fruits or vegetables and fresh meat, chicken or fish said the same.