Millennials Are Behind Online Grocery’s Growth: New Data

The pandemic pushed millions of consumers online to do their everyday shopping, with Millennials leading the pack. This is according to new findings from data intelligence company Morning Consult’s “Most Trusted Brands: Retail and E-Commerce” report, which surveyed 4,400 U.S. adults. Data drawn from the report found that 25% of Millennials do “most” or “all” of their grocery shopping online, up from 14% pre-pandemic.

They lead other generations, and every key demographic that Morning Consult tracks, in their online grocery shopping behaviors, highlighting how important this group is for grocers looking to capture more online shoppers.

Morning Consult points out that Millennials are starting families and have higher needs for grocery convenience, or are delaying having children or opting not to, creating higher levels of discretionary income that can cover delivery or service fees that accompany online grocery shopping. 

Urban Millennials are more likely to use digital means to shop for groceries, as Morning Consult found that nearly one-third (32%) of Millennials living in urban areas do at least most of their grocery shopping online. However, the Washington D.C.-based firm also found that 21% of rural Millennials said they do at least most of their grocery shopping online, more than doubling the 11% who said the same of their shopping behaviors pre-pandemic. Suburban Millennials have also doubled the share of those opting to shop online for groceries.

The digital shopping habits that consumers picked up during the pandemic are certainly here to stay, as consumers of all ages have grown accustomed to having choices when buying groceries. Inmar Intelligence’s recent survey highlighted this growing reliance on mobile shopping: About a quarter of shoppers said that they do 75% of their shopping via a mobile device or app, with 20% saying that they do 100% of their grocery shopping using that platform.