Grocery retailers are going digital to leverage online grocery stores

TORONTO, July 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TORONTO, ON, July 26, 2022 — With the surge in online grocery shopping — due to the COVID-19 pandemic and fewer people able or willing to Shop physical locations – more and more grocers are using digital marketing to transform how their customers shop and what they put in their carts.

During the peak of the pandemic, 20-30% of US grocery stores went online (1). But although many physical stores are back to business as usual, the trend and preference for online shopping has remained.

In the US, 46.9% of respondents said they plan to buy groceries online in the next 12 months, compared to just 25.8% in 2018 (2). Similarly, online shopping is on the rise in Canada, with more than 1 in 5 people predicting they will shop for even more groceries online (3).

So what is it about online shopping that is exciting consumers and a growing number of grocers across North America? It all boils down to the power of convenience and added perks made possible by marketing technology. In fact, according to Graphical Research, the value of artificial intelligence (AI) — a key trend in digital marketing — is expected to surpass 10 billion by 2027 (4), and grocery delivery is a big part of that pie.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. is a leading company and early adopter of online groceries. In fact, it boosted the online experience in 2019 with its move to offer products that aren’t available in its brick-and-mortar stores through a curated marketplace (something Amazon has mastered since 2000). The marketplace gives shoppers better access to what they want and encourages customers to spend more by ordering online (5).

Other Canadian grocers are also riding and benefiting from the trend, including Sobeys, Metro and Costco Canada. Overall, digital grocery sales reached 99.64 billion across Canada in 2021 (6).

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