Shops still await lift-off for online grocery sales

Shopping study: Stephen Harmston THE UK’s online grocery market has failed to “lift off ” as consumers harbour doubts about freshness and prove unwilling to give up the social side of supermarket shopping, according to a report.

Almost half of consumers ( 46%) have tried online grocery shopping, but just 15% do so a few times a month, YouGov found.

The findings indicate that the majority of consumers are still using bricks and mortar supermarkets for the bulk of their grocery shopping.

Furthermore, 87 % of online shoppers are going to a bricks and mortar store to top up their groceries during the week.

Recent Office for National Statistics figures found only 6% of total UK grocery sales are made online.

Some 71% of those who do not shop online said the biggest barrier was not being able to touch products before buying them, while 44% of online shoppers also thought this is a downside to the process.

Almost six in 10 (57%) non-online shoppers said they do not trust the quality and freshness of the products they could buy, a concern echoed by 31% of those who do buy their groceries online.

More than half of non-online shoppers (51%) reported they enjoy going to a supermarket, while 34% believed they would miss the social contact of a trip to the shops.

Some 38% of bricks and mortar customers and 35% of online shoppers believed delivery costs are too high, while others were concerned that delivery times would not be convenient.

Stephen Harmston, head of YouGov Reports, said: “Despite online grocery being around for years, we’re still waiting for the ‘ lift off moment’ that has characterised other industries such as fashion and home retail.”