American food and drink e-commerce lowest penetration rate

Summary: September 26 reported in the U.S. grocery market with annual sales of as much as $600 billion, food and beverages are the largest retail category. However, this category is the lowest penetration rate of e-commerce. Business Insider Research Institute BI FDI

September 26 reported the annual sales of up to 600 billion U.S. dollars in the American grocery market, food and beverages are the largest retail category. However, this category is the lowest penetration rate of e-commerce. Business Insider's research agency BI FDI estimates that less than 1% of the retail sales of food and beverages come from the Internet.

However, with the change of consumers ' shopping habits, the online grocery service attracts consumers ' attention gradually with the advantages of convenience and large optional space. At the same time, e-commerce giants such as Amazon are lowering the cost of groceries to remove the barriers that affect the development of e-commerce in groceries.

In the report, BI FDI said that from 2013 to 2018, online grocery sales would remain at a compound growth rate of 21.1% annually, reaching $18 billion in 2018. By contrast, the annual compound growth rate for grocery sales in the period will be only 3.1%.

U.S. grocery market sales growth forecast

The research report of the BI FDI also noted:

1 whether for consumers or businesses, online purchase of groceries there are many disadvantages, such as cost, logistics complexity, courier fees, as well as the quality of purchased goods and freshness. For businesses, to ensure the freshness of goods, it is necessary to ensure the speed of delivery, but also to ensure quality, and some of the quality of groceries are easily damaged.

2 but the advantage of online grocery store is convenient and the choice space is big. According to the survey, only 15% of adults in the United States bought the average food online, but 25% said they had bought special foods and drinks (which were hard to buy elsewhere).

3 Some startups offer a different shopping experience than traditional supermarkets, which we believe will change the way people buy food. In addition, online grocery stores have the opportunity to win business customers because bulk purchases can reduce costs.

4 large companies such as Amazon, ebay and Google have started offering service on the day, which is also attractive to grocery buyers.