Grocers Have Opportunity to Cross-Sell eCommerce Customers on Restaurant Meals

As consumers increasingly turn to digital channels to get their grocery needs met, merchants have the opportunity to drive additional sales if they can integrate restaurant ordering into their eCommerce platforms.

By the Numbers

Research from a PYMNTS survey last month of more than 4,600 consumers revealed that, of the 74% who use connected devices while shopping for retail products, including groceries, 27% did so to purchase food from restaurants. In other words, 1 in 5 consumers bought restaurant meals online while doing other kinds of shopping.

As such, if grocers can integrate restaurant menus into their eCommerce journeys, they have the chance to seize on consumers’ demand to order food while buying other items.

The Data in Action

Grocers have been making moves to capture consumers’ restaurant spending, but much of this activity has centered on the brick-and-mortar shopping journey.

For instance, Kroger, the nation’s top pure-play grocer, has reportedly become the No. 1 sushi seller in the United States, with consumers purchasing more than 40 million pieces of sushi per year from the retailer.

“We want customers, when they think food, [to] think Kroger,” CEO Rodney McMullen said in a March presentation for the BofA 2023 Consumer & Retail Conference. “… We believe it’s a huge growth opportunity for us and an important area.”

In an interview with PYMNTS, Geoff Alexander, president and CEO of Wow Bao, a restaurant chain with a presence at more than 1,000 grocery stores’ sushi bars, discussed this trend.

“The grocery store is trying to be the one-stop shop,” Alexander said Monday (Aug. 21). “Whether it’s for ready-to-eat meals, food for another night, or the typical grocery shop, they’re trying to entice the consumer to use the grocery store in many different ways.”