Grocers Prepare for an Omnichannel Holiday Season as Digital Regains Lost Momentum

NEW YORK and MIAMI — Incisiva next-generation industry insights firm that helps retailers and brands navigate digital disruption, and Wynshop, the leading provider of digital commerce and fulfillment solutions for local store-based retailers, today revealed the findings from their State of Digital Grocery Performance Scorecard for October 2023.

The report foretells a holiday grocery shopping season that will be more omnichannel than ever before, with 83% of shoppers planning to use grocers’ online stores and apps, 78% of shoppers reporting that they will buy both in-store and digitally for the upcoming holiday season, and 21% planning to buy the majority of their holiday groceries online.

Meanwhile, here is how grocers are investing in preparedness for an omnichannel holiday season:

  • online stress testing/optimization (86%)
  • increasing digital promotions and discounts (77%)
  • expanding delivery and pickup options (74%)
  • Improving inventory visibility options (69%)
  • Personalized offers (47%)

The monthly State of Digital Grocery Performance Scorecards are one of many resources available on the Grocery Doppio website. The latest report was built around data analysis of 2.1 million shopper orders and aggregated survey results from more than 38,113 shoppers and 3,611 U.S. grocery executives.

More key findings from the October 2023 Performance Scorecard include:

  • Pickup has emerged as the fulfillment channel of choice
    52.3% of all digital grocery orders were fulfilled by pickup in October 2023, representing an 8.2% increase over September pickup orders.
    62% of shoppers intend to do even more pickup orders over the holidays than they normally do.
  • Digital grocery sales regained momentum, while third-party sales continued to slump
    October digital grocery sales were $11 billion in October, representing 13.2% of total grocery sales; This was a 6.8% increase over September, and the highest level in six months that digital grocery has achieved.
    Third party platform market share dropped to 15.6%, the second time below 16% in 2023, and the lowest level of market share in the past 48 months. 

“It’s beginning to look a lot like an omnichannel Christmas,” said Gaurav Pant, Chief Insights Officer of both Incisiv and Grocery Doppio. “As cold weather sets in, shoppers struggle with busy schedules, and grocers extend digital promotions and convenient fulfillment options, shoppers will utilize all the channels at their disposal.”

“This year grocers are more prepared than ever for digital grocery,” added Charlie Kaplan, Chief Revenue Officer at Wynshop. “Industry leaders are using digital technology to amp up online traffic and ensure that they have the inventory transparency and fulfillment efficiency to maintain happy holiday customers.”

Grocery Doppio is a free, independent source of grocery insights and data designed to help grocers jumpstart, accelerate, and sustain digital growth. The monthly State of Digital Grocery Performance Scorecards are one of many resources available on the Grocery Doppio website, along with rich, research-driven grocery content, fact-based observations, inspiring perspectives, and deep performance benchmarks that identify improvement opportunities for grocery retailers.

To download Grocery Doppio’s “State of Digital Grocery Performance Scorecard: October 2023,” click here.

About Incisiv
Incisiv is a next-generation industry insights firm that helps retailers and brands navigate digital disruption in their industry. Incisiv offers consumer industry executives responsible for digital transformation a trusted platform to share and learn in a non-competitive setting, and the tools necessary to improve digital maturity, impact, and profitability. More information is available at www.incisiv.com.

About Wynshop 
Wynshop is an ambitious team of digital innovators obsessed with a solitary mission—helping grocers and other local store-based retailers grow wildly successful online businesses. Its refreshingly easy-to-use digital commerce platform enables efficient in-house picking, reduces fulfillment costs, and gives retailers the ability to control every facet of their customers’ digital shopping experience. This results in a more personalized customer journey and amplified shopper loyalty. Learn more at www.wynshop.com.