Grocery Outlet ‘successfully navigated macro challenges’ in fiscal 2021

Contextual commerce platform Chicory has released findings from its Omnichannel Grocery Shopper survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers, providing insight into how today’s consumers are meal planning and grocery shopping.

Key findings include:

Multi-Channel and Online Shopping is the New Normal. 66 percent of consumers have purchased groceries online in the last 60 days. While shopping behaviors are similar across gender and age groups, women and consumers 30 to 40 years old express the highest overall preference for online shopping, while 44 percent of those who prefer to shop in-store still order groceries online.

Off-Site Channels are Key to the Path to Purchase. Food blogs and recipe publishers are the most popular sources of online meal inspiration, according to 64 percent of survey respondents. This is consistent across all age groups. In fact, food blogs and recipe publishers outperform TikTok among the youngest generation of grocery shoppers, those 18 to 29 years old.

Almost 50 percent of shoppers are likely (31 percent) or very likely (18 percent) to purchase groceries directly from online food content (e.g., digital recipes, social media posts), signaling that off-site grocery commerce is becoming increasingly common.

Shoppers Prioritize Price and Convenience. Price is the top consideration for purchasing a product again (71 percent). It’s also the factor most likely to drive someone to change preferred retailers (65 percent).

However, location/convenience is an important factor too according to 48 percent of survey respondents. This likely explains why grocery and food delivery apps, which deliver groceries right to shoppers’ doors, are nearly tied with Target as the third-most popular online grocery retailer.

“For the second year in a row, respondents identified food blogs and recipe sites as their go-to sources for meal inspiration online,” says Chicory CEO and co-founder Yuni Sameshima, in a statement. “If brands and retailers aren’t yet leveraging off-site content to acquire new customers, they need to start. Today, winning at the shelf requires meeting consumers in moments of inspiration, well before they hit the retailer’s store or site.”

Related: Study: Most Americans Concerned With Rising Food Prices; UNFI, Crisp Help Brands Mine Data, Insights;