The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the United Kingdom has caused an increase in consumer spending in grocery stores across the country. Compared to the same period in the previous year sales in the 12 week period ending on the 22nd of March have increased by double digits for Aldi, Iceland, Ocado and Lidl. With Lidl showing the biggest growth in sales with 17.6 percent. Morrisons showed the smallest growth in sales with 4.6 percent. Of the big four supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury's, Teso and Morrisons), Sainsbury's saw the biggest increase in sales numbers.

When asked in 2021 whether they would continue shopping for food online once the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has subsided, an estimated third of consumers in the United Kingdom stated they would, but not as frequently. Just under a fifth of UK shoppers had no intention of buying groceries on the web post pandemic.

Online grocery shopping habits in the UK

Ever since the coronavirus crisis first took off in early 2020, it affected many UK consumers in the way they usually bought groceries. Some started stockpiling hygiene products, while others had their supermarket necessities delivered to their doorstep in order to avoid the crowds. By May of that year, over 30 percent of shoppers in the UK stated they had increased their online shopping activity for groceries. Some of the grocery items most purchased by UK shoppers on the web were alcoholic drinks and chilled foods.

What are some of the biggest grocery stores in Great Britain?

In Great Britain, there are many grocery stores that make up a fair chunk of the market, including Aldi, Waitrose, Iceland. In the past few years, however, Tesco was and has remained the unequivocal leader, accounting for a market share of just under 30 percent. Going head-to-head at roughly 15 percent of the market each, Sainsbury’s and Asda ranked second and third, respectively.

National lockdown measures announced by the UK government on March 23, 2020 halted all but "essential businesses" in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). According to the results of a recent survey conducted with UK adults, in addition to supermarkets which were considered essential by 98 respondents, cornershops/newsagents were regarded as essential businesses by 80 percent of those who took part in the survey. Of other retail shops, sports equipment stores and garden centers were largely considered non-essential during the COVID-19 crisis lockdown.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

According to a survey carried out in the United Kingdom in January 2021, about 27 percent of respondents reported that they tried shopping with a supermarket online for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the results of Coronavirus Consumer Tracker conducted by Internet Retailing, since the coronavirus (COVID-19) became more widespread in the United Kingdom (UK) and social distancing measures followed, UK consumers increased their online shopping activity for groceries around late April and early May. In the week that the UK government announced nationwide lockdown, about 15 percent of consumers stated they stopped online grocery shopping completely.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK) and elsewhere in the world, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

The novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), which emerged in late 2019, has had drastic effects on the shopping habits of supermarket shoppers globally. Stockpiling of many consumer goods products surged amidst the shutdown of many businesses and quarantine measures implemented by governments around the world.

Age group differences of Coronavirus stockpiling in the UK As initial quarantine measures were implemented in the UK during the first week of March 2020, the purchase of grocery store items such as such toilet paper, household cleaners and over-the-counter medicine saw a major increase. According to a poll conducted by Ipsos, there were noticeable differences between the stockpiling behaviors of older versus younger shoppers. 65 percent of shoppers in the older age range of 55 to 75 years old stated their shopping patterns were unchanged during this time. This was not the case for younger shoppers, especially 18-35-year-olds, of whom 40 percent stated they did purchase additional items.

Coronavirus stockpiling in the UK versus other countries

As seen in the present chart, 42-65 percent of all those surveyed stated their grocery shopping habits have remained unchanged during the Coronavirus pandemic. This number is in accordance with another poll by in which six in ten UK citizens stated it was unacceptable to stockpile items due to coronavirus concerns. A worldwide poll measuring stockpiling trends from 12 countries further demonstrated that the stockpiling behaviors of UK consumers came in ninth place, before Australia and after France.

When British adults were asked on March 9th 2020 whether or not they support or oppose rationing of essential items by supermarkets, such as pasta, toilet rolls and UHT milk, approximately 83 percent of respondents supported the idea of rationing items. For more data and statistics on the coronavirus outbreak in the UK and the rest of the world visit our topic page.

As the Covid-19 pandemic leaves the world's biggest economies shaken and puts many European countries in lockdown, shoppers in the United Kingdom (UK) flocked to the supermarkets in the first week of March, 2020, leading to great surges in the sales growth of several non-edible consumer goods products. Compared to the sales value recorded in the same week of the previous year, paper products saw the greatest jump with 78.2 percent growth in the week ending March 8, 2020. As the weeks progressed, year-over-year sales growth figures fared around normal figures.

For further information and updates about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

According to a survey carried out in the United Kingdom in January 2021, around a third of respondents stated that their spending on grocery shopping has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, while around 15 percent of respondents stated their grocery spending decreased.

According to the results of Coronavirus Consumer Tracker conducted by Internet Retailing, up to 47 percent of UK consumers' online orders have been affected by busy and overwhelmed services during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. About 40 percent of those surveyed said their ability to order takeout food online was reduced. The level of disruption experienced by consumers was particularly pronounced when it came to shopping for groceries. Close to half of all respondents said that the increased pressure on services affected their ability to shop for groceries online.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Ocado is a UK-based online supermarket that delivers groceries and household essentials. It allows consumers to order groceries online and provides deliveries at the doorstep. The online retailer was in a partnership with the upmarket grocery retail chain Waitrose for 10 years. In February 2019, Ocado announced new partnership with Marks & Spencer, and as of September 2020, the Ocado-Waitrose partnership came to an end.
Since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Ocado's retail revenue saw sustained growth. In the 13-week period to August 30, 2020, Ocado generated a revenue of 587.3 million British pounds. This was nearly 200 million GBP more than the revenue recorded in the same period a year earlier.

According to a survey carried out in the United Kingdom in January 2021, just over half of respondents stated that they spend less time browsing in grocery stores than they used to. With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, around 26.6 percent of respondents stated that they sanitize their grocery shopping at home.

The new strain of coronavirus, Covid-19, has led many countries to take drastic social distancing measures, and has driven consumers to supermarkets to stock up on foodstuffs, hygiene, and over-the-counter medical products such as vitamins and pain relievers. However, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos, an overwhelming majority of British consumers (61 percent) think it is not acceptable to stockpile during the Coronavirus outbreak.

As Covid-19 continues to impact governments and communities worldwide, new data emerging on the virus are helping individuals to stay on top of the situation and protect themselves and those around them. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Online grocery shopping has become increasingly popular among shoppers since the COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred consumers to purchase their supermarket goods through the internet when faced with lockdowns and stay-home advisories. In 2021, the online food and grocery sales in the United Kingdom amounted to about 25 billion British pounds. That figure was forecast to increase to nearly 30 billion by 2025.

Post-pandemic slowdown despite new shopping habits While online grocery still is expected to generate billions in revenue, growth of the market is set to slow down significantly. As official regulation surrounding the pandemic has ended, the high demand for online grocery ordering has lowered in turn. However, many consumers in 2022, particularly those of higher ages, still cited that avoiding crowds and risk of infection at physical stores was a strong reason for ordering their groceries online. Another popular reason for online grocery shoppers was due to having no time to go to the store themselves.

Not the perfect alternative While saving time and avoiding crowds are pros to buying groceries on the web, there are also inevitable cons with this method of grocery shopping. A 2022 survey revealed that too many substituted items, not being able to find suitable delivery times, and un-fresh groceries were the most common negative aspects to online grocery shopping in the UK. These factors may be part of why nearly 42 percent of shoppers bought their groceries primarily in-stores, and only partially online.

High demand during the lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak caused the online food and grocery market penetration to nearly double between 2019 and 2021. However, as the situation has returned to normal, this growth has slowed. In 2022, the percentage of users purchasing food and groceries online was 11.6 percent, a decrease compared to the previous year.

On average, 24 percent of bread, milk, chicken and potatoes bought by customers in the UK ended up being uneaten or thrown out in November 2019. This figure fell to 13.7 percent during peak lockdowns caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus. With people less likely to visit supermarkets, consumers became more likely to use up their food resources. However, as lockdowns began to ease, food waste increased slightly, but remained lower than levels observed pre-lockdown.

As shown in this graph, the number of John Lewis stores in the United Kingdom (UK) grew up until 2020, steadily increasing to 50 locations. After that however, John Lewis made the decision to close stores not deemed profitable enough, with store numbers falling to 34 by January 2024. The John Lewis Partnership John Lewis is one of the most successful department store businesses in the UK. It is part of the John Lewis Partnership with department stores, home stores and convenience stores across the United Kingdom. In addition to John Lewis stores, the Partnership also owns a steady number of Waitrose shops in the UK. The majority of the revenue of John Lewis Partnership is earned by Waitrose. Online business unbeaten With online sales channels increasingly gaining hold in retail and the ensuing fall in visitor numbers to physical stores, department stores are changing and adjusting their strategies. John Lewis is among the retailers in the UK who recorded growth in the distribution of online sales over recent years, a trend accelerated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which looks set to remain popular.

In the financial year 2020/21 ending on January 31, 2021, Morrisons generated a turnover of almost 17.6 billion British pounds in the United Kingdom. As a rough reference, the entire grocery market in the UK was estimated to be worth 212 billion pounds in 2021.

Morrisons presence in the UK

Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc primary business is grocery retail. However, the company owns 18 manufacturing sites for fresh food, which makes the company the second largest fresh food manufacturer in the UK. Besides its almost 500 stores the company also operated 339 petrol stations and was the 8th largest petrol station operator in the UK in 2020.

Morrisons’ performance

The company operated at a net profit before exceptionals of 651 million pounds. However, net profits were cut in half between 2012 and 2016 and have only slightly recovered since then. The coronavirus pandemic had a profound effect on the grocery market and Morrisons; after struggling with sinking sales in the second half of 2019, the company saw unprecedented growth throughout 2020.