Groceries were popular with online shoppers during Amazon Prime Day, but overall United States grocery e-commerce sales plunged.
Groceries accounted for 16 percent of purchases from Amazon during Prime Day, held from 21 to 22 June, market research firm Numerator said in its preliminary data. And Amazon-branded products accounted for 33 percent of grocery products sold.
However, overall grocery e-commerce sales plunged 16 percent and monthly active users dropped 12 percent in May, due to comparisons with the online grocery buying surge in May 2020 when many COVID-19 restrictions were in place, according to research firm Brick Meets Click.
In fact, total online grocery sales were 3.5 percent higher than pre-COVID levels, reaching USD 7 billion (EUR 5.9 billon).
“As the business laps very tough year-over-year comparisons, it is essential to put monthly performance into perspective and keep an eye on the big picture,” Brick Meets Click Partner and Research Lead David Bishop said in a press release. “May’s results show the market retains 70 percent of the incremental gains generated versus the record COVID high of USD 9.3 billion (EUR 7.8 billion, illustrating that much of the gain propelled by the pandemic has stuck around."
Monthly active users (MAU) bases for pickup and delivery grew by more than 26 percent and 18 percent, respectively, versus last year while the MAU ship-to-home base remained essentially flat, Brick Meets Click said. Pickup has continued to have the largest user base of the three methods since January 2021.
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