Fresh Produce Keeps Consumers Coming Back to Brick-and-Mortar Grocers

Despite eGrocery advances, PYMNTS research shows that when it comes to fresh produce, consumers still overwhelmingly prefer physical stores.

The Context

Grocery shoppers do not trust eCommerce options to pick out the right fruits and vegetables.

On a call with analysts earlier this month discussing Amazon’s fourth-quarter 2022 financial results, the company asserted that the extent of its grocery presence tends to go underestimated, especially when it comes to center-aisle items, which many consumers purchase online. However, in order to gain share in fresh food, the company will need to keep its focus on its brick-and-mortar stores.

“If you really want to have significant market segment share in perishables, you typically need physical stores,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said.

In an interview with PYMNTS, Alex Ruhter, CEO and co-founder of recently-opened curbside-only grocery store JackBe, noted that consumers’ particular preferences for their fresh fruits and vegetables tend to hinder adoption of digital channels.

“It’s really hard to nail the quality of freshness and ripeness that customers would choose if they were shopping themselves,” Ruhter said. “So, we’ve really been intentional about training our staff to know how to pick fresh produce, but also asking our customers if they’d like to see their produce even before it gets in their car, and then we can confirm that it’s exactly what they want.”

By the Numbers

Research from PYMNTS’ recent study “Changes in Grocery Shopping Habits and Perception,” which draws from a December survey of more than 2,400 U.S. consumers, finds that only 7% of grocery shoppers make their purchases online all the time, while a far greater 54% shop in physical stores all the time.

Plus, the study noted that consumers disproportionately continue to buy fruits and vegetables in physical stores. While only 44% of consumers purchase more than half of their grocery store items in stores on average, 53% purchase the majority of their fresh produce in physical stores.