Food and beverage will be the fastest-growing e-commerce category through 2024, according to recent data.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic encouraging more Americans to use grocery pickup and delivery, research and advisory company Forrester projects food and beverage e-commerce to increase 30 percent annually from 2019 through 2024.
By 2024, 10 percent of U.S. food and drink sales will be online, and online food and drink will account for 17 percent of U.S. e-commerce growth, Forrester said.
The pandemic pushed online food and beverage sales up 84 percent to USD 57 billion (EUR 48 billion) in 2020 – comprising 9.5 percent of all U.S. food and beverage sales, according to recent data from research firm IRI and 210 Analytics.
Food and drink had the fastest online growth in 2020, according to Forrester.
Online sales across Kroger, Target, and Walmart spiked 91 percent, the research firm said. In fact, 18 percent of Target’s sales are now online – the largest share across food and drink and supercenter retailers.
Seventy-eight percent of U.S. grocery shoppers have increased their use of click-and-collect services since the pandemic began last year, according to new research from market research firm Ipsos. A majority – 69 percent – plan to keep shopping online at the same or greater levels into the future.
H-E-B, Publix, and Aldi ranked the highest at fulfilling online orders through pickup, according to Ipsos.
While online grocery sales have realized incredible growth, they still trail non-food by a wide margin, 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink told SeafoodSource. Online sales of non-food consumer products goods (CPG) soared to USD 105 billion (EUR 89 billion) in 2020.
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