Why Walmart is winning in online grocery services: Report
48% of online grocery shoppers use Walmart, 36% use Amazon, 24% use Kroger
Online grocery shoppers appear to have turned to Walmart during the coronavirus crisis, which could set the retail giant up for continued success.
On Monday, Winsight Grocery Business (WGB) published a report citing data from Kantar Retail’s recent Shopperscape survey, which found that 48 percent of online grocery shoppers used Walmart’s pickup and delivery services.
Of those shoppers, 82 percent returned to Walmart’s online services at least once a month, the survey found.
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Meanwhile, only 36 percent used Amazon’s grocery services -- including AmazonFresh, Prime Now and Whole Foods Prime Now pickup and delivery -- and only 24 percent used Kroger’s online pickup and delivery services -- including services from all its brands -- according to the report.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 92.64 | +0.14 | +0.15% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 210.71 | +2.82 | +1.36% |
| KR | THE KROGER CO. | 60.15 | -0.93 | -1.52% |
WGB noted that shoppers may use multiple companies’ online services.
However, Walmart was still the clear winner. To see why, here are some of the reasons Walmart has had so much success, according to WGB.
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Physical locations
According to WGB, Walmart’s success comes in part because of its “combination of physical and digital assets.”
Two customers put bags in the trunk of their car after shopping at Walmart Supercenter in Miami in April. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)
“They have this great footprint, where 90 percent of shoppers are in a close radius to a store,” Lei Duran, Kantar Retail’s senior vice president, told WGB.
“And so they’re using that proximity and the total box to be faster and really make some inroads with grocery, instead of trying to win an Amazon game,” Duran added.
Merged shopping apps
In March, Walmart announced it was combining its two shopping apps -- one for grocery and the other for everything else -- into one app.
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That integration allowed customers to buy more than just groceries in a single order and, according to WGB, it caused Walmart’s e-commerce sales to increase by 74 percent during the first quarter of 2020.
Express Delivery
Walmart also launched Express Delivery in May, a service that delivers items -- including groceries -- to customers within two hours.
That service also helped boost Walmart into the lead spot among grocery services, WGB reported.