By 2024, the number of online shoppers of grocery products might reach *** millions in the United States. The projection is a significant increase compared to 2019. Indeed, before the pandemic the number of U.S. online grocery purchasers did not go over ** million individuals.

This statistic highlights online grocery shopping sales in the United States from 2019 through 2024. The U.S. online grocery market was estimated to generate sales worth of about **** billion U.S. dollars in 2020, with sales forecast to reach ***** billion U.S. dollars by 2024. Among the leading online food and beverage retailers in 2016, were Amazon and Walmart. Online grocery shoppingGrocery sales through online platforms represent a very small part of the overall grocery retail market, but are amongst the fastest growing segment. Some people don’t enjoy the hassle of traditional grocery shopping, especially to stand in a queue before check-out. If consumers use the convenience of an online grocery service, they can pick their everyday products on the distributor’s website and will get the chosen items delivered right to their doorstep, which saves time. Most online suppliers in the United States provide same-day delivery options. During the last years, more and more firms tried to gain a foothold within the e-grocery industry. Companies engaged in the U.S. online grocery market include AmazonFresh, FreshDirect, NetGrocer, Walmart and Safeway. A relatively new and innovative business model is supplied by Instacart. The San Francisco-based company is a grocery transport service that delivers the grocery order through personal shoppers in *** to *** hours. As of February 2015, Instacart charged **** U.S. dollars per two-hour deliveries and ***** U.S. dollars per one-hour deliveries. The personal shoppers purchase the chosen items at different local food stores and deliver them to your house within the agreed time window. The use of virtual grocery stores has still a large growth potential as more and more time-strapped consumers are looking for innovative ways to make their lives easier. However, a significant hurdle for online grocers remains freshness as many customers still prefer to see and touch the produce before purchase.

In the United States, the share of digital grocery buyers is expected to increase from **** percent of the population in 2019 to nearly ** percent by 2025. The biggest increase in the share of users happened between 2019 and 2020, likely as a result of the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

In 2023, millennials were the most likely to engage in grocery e-commerce in the U.S., with ** percent reporting that they shopped for groceries on the internet. Gen Z was next, with ** percent making online grocery purchases.

Growth in the number of users of online grocery was highest in 2020, increasing by **** percent, in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Growth rate in 2021 is expected to decline sharply and continue a gradual descent to *** percent growth in 2024.

The number of users in the e-commerce market in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2025 and 2029 by in total **** million users (+***** percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the number of users is estimated to reach ***** million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of users of the e-commerce market was continuously increasing over the past years.Find other key market indicators concerning the average revenue per user (ARPU) and revenue.The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

According to a survey carried out in 2024 in the United States, some ** percent of respondents chose to shop for their groceries/food exclusively in-person. Around *********** respondents buys groceries through a delivery service or app, while another ** percent buy it through curbside or pickup.

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The online retail market share in the US is expected to increase to USD 460.13 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market’s growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 11.64%.

The report extensively covers online retail market in the US segmentation by the following:

Product - Apparel, footwear, and accessories, consumer electronics and electricals, food and grocery, home furniture and furnishing, and others
Device - Smartphones and tablets and PCs

The US online retail market report offers information on several market vendors, including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., eBay Inc., Kroger Co., Target Corp., The Home Depot Inc., Walmart Inc., and Wayfair Inc. among others.

This online retail market in the US research report provides valuable insights on the post COVID-19 impact on the market, which will help companies evaluate their business approaches.

What will the Online Retail Market Size in the US be During the Forecast Period?

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Online Retail Market in the US: Key Drivers, Trends, and Challenges

The growing seasonal and holiday sales is notably driving the online retail market growth in the US, although factors such as transportation and logistics may impede the market growth. Our research analysts have studied the historical data and deduced the key market drivers and the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the online retail industry in the US. The holistic analysis of the drivers will help in deducing end goals and refining marketing strategies to gain a competitive edge.

Key US Online Retail Market Driver

The growing seasonal and holiday sales is one of the key drivers supporting the US online retail market growth. For instance, from November 1 to December 24, e-commerce sales in the US increased by 11% in 2021, when compared to a massive 47.2% growth in the holiday season of 2020. E-commerce sales made up 20.9 % of total retail sales in the holiday season of 2021, slightly higher than 20.6 percent in 2020. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are the days that see a high amount of online shopping. Apparel, footwear and accessories, consumer electronics, computer hardware, and toys are the largest gaining product categories during the holiday season. Consumers in the US spent $204.5 billion online in November and December 2021, up 8.6% over the same period in 2020. Such exciting sales and offers are driving the market growth.

Key US Online Retail Market Trend

Omni-channel retailing is one of the key US online retail market trends fueling the market growth. It is rapidly becoming the norm for many retailers in the US. It offers consumers the option to shop online and pick up the merchandise from the store nearest to their location on the same day. Retailers are observing a high web influence on their in-store sales. For instance, Best Buy is integrating its offline and online stores to boost revenues. As a part of its omnichannel strategy, the retailer is utilizing physical stores as distribution centers for online purchases. According to Best Buy, 40% of its online shoppers prefer picking up their purchases from physical stores. Best Buy also challenges online and discount retailers with its match-to-price strategy, claiming to offer gadgets at or below the price offered by competitors. Such strategies are expected to boost market growth during the forecast period.

Key US Online Retail Market Challenge

Transportation and logistics are some of the factors hindering the US online retail market growth. Product procurement or sourcing, shipment of ordered items, and delivery to customers are the three major processes where the intervention of transportation and logistics come into the picture. All these processes require a high investment of both time and money, which challenges the efficiency and effectiveness of retailers and their costing strategies. The higher cost incurred from transportation and logistics reduces the margin of retailers, and most of the time, retailers are unable to break even. Between rising fuel prices, driver shortages, as well as a governmental and societal push for increased digitization and sustainability, transport and logistics will continue to be under a lot of pressure. Such factors will negatively impact the market growth during the forecast period.

This online retail market in the US analysis report also provides detailed information on other upcoming trends and challenges that will have a far-reaching effect on the market growth. The actionable insights on the trends and challenges will help companies evaluate and develop growth strategies for 2022-2026.

Who are the Major Online Retail Market Vendors in the US?

The report analyzes the market’s competitive landscape and offers information on sever

In a survey conducted in the second quarter of 2023, nearly ********** of Millennials in the United States reported shopping for groceries online on a monthly basis, compared to around ** percent of Gen X respondents.

According to a survey carried out in the United States in June 2023, some ** percent of respondents stated that they usually purchase groceries locally at the brick-and-mortar stores, making it the most popular shopping choice. Some ** percent of respondents said that they usually shop for groceries mainly online, while ***** percent said they purchase them exclusively online. Why do Americans still prefer to buy groceries in physical stores? Being able to see and choose products in person before buying them was the most-cited reason for not shopping for groceries online in the United States in 2018. Other top reasons for shopping in-store included enjoyment and not having to pay for delivery. If consumers were to be persuaded to buy groceries online, then price and convenience would be the leading factors to convince them. Grocery market in the United States Sales of supermarkets and other grocery stores in the United States reached around *** billion U.S. dollars in 2022, an increase of more than *** billion U.S. dollars over a ten-year period. Walmart was the leading food and grocery retailer in the U.S. in 2022, with sales reaching around *** billion U.S. dollars.

On average, a ******* of global shoppers were purchasing groceries online on a monthly basis in the second quarter of 2023. The United Kingdom had the highest share of monthly online grocery shoppers, at ** percent, followed closely by the United States at ** percent. In contrast, only ** percent of Polish respondents reported shopping for groceries online on a monthly basis.

Nearly eight in ten U.S. consumers purchased their groceries through mobile apps, according to a survey conducted in 2021. While ** percent of respondents still relied on a computer to place their orders, **** percent used a voice assistant to make their online orders.

According to a survey carried out in the United States in June 2023, overall the majority of each age group usually purchase groceries locally at the brick-and-mortar stores. Older shoppers seemed to shop in-store more than their younger counterparts. Some ** percent of those aged 55-65 usually did their grocery shopping offline, while **** percent of those aged 18-24 and 45-54 shopped exclusively online.

In 2024, the United States was home to an estimated ***** million social buyers. By 2028, this figure is forecast to grow to ***** million U.S. Americans expected to make purchases through social networks. Social channels are the new shopping hubs Social networks, known for producing the 'feel-good hormone' oxytocin and having a broad reach across the population, are redefining online shopping. In the United States, this channel is projected to account for an increasing share of online retail sales in the coming years. As of 2022, approximately ** percent of U.S. online users who made purchases on a social media platform did so on Facebook, while ** percent used Instagram. China remains the social commerce powerhouse Responsible for almost half of the world's online retail sales, China leads the way in e-commerce. As such, innovation has been the order of the day, bringing Chinese companies to strongly embrace new trends such as social commerce. According to estimates, China's social commerce gross merchandise value was set to reach *** trillion yuan (approximately *** billion U.S. dollars) in 2021. That year, sales through social media made up about **** percent of the total online sales value in the Asian country, a figure that is expected to keep growing steadily over the next few years.

According to estimates, Amazon claimed the top spot among online retailers in the United States in 2023, capturing 37.6 percent of the market. Second place was occupied by the e-commerce site of the retail chain Walmart, with a 6.4 percent market share, followed in third place by Apple, with 3.6 percent.

Amazon’s continued success

Amazon has long dominated the e-commerce market as the world’s favorite online marketplace. In 2022, company hit over half a trillion U.S. dollars in net sales. The United States is by far Amazon’s most profitable market, as the U.S. branch generated over 356 billion U.S. dollars in sales in 2022. Germany ranked second, with 33 billion dollars, followed closely by the United Kingdom with 30 billion dollars.

Online shopping on the rise

Online shopping has grown significantly over the past decade, with more people turning to the internet for their shopping needs. The proof is in the numbers: the U.S. e-commerce industry was worth almost a trillion dollars in 2023. By 2027, forecasts show that the online market will grow to more than 50 percent. U.S. online shoppers purchase fashion and food and beverages the most via the internet.

Saving time was the main reason for U.S. Gen X shoppers to buy groceries online in 2023, with 73 percent of shoppers reporting so. Another 37 percent of shoppers reported that they liked shopping online because it helps them avoid impulse purchases that happen in-store.

In 2023, most U.S. shoppers were purchasing non-perishable packaged foods and personal care items while grocery shopping online, with ** and ** percent of shoppers reporting so respectively. Home care items like detergents were also purchased online by ** percent of consumers, and soft drinks followed with ** percent.

U.S. consumers were asked how much money they spent on average on groceries per week. The findings present that U.S. households' weekly grocery expenditure amounted to about *** U.S. dollars in 2025. Between 2019 and 2025, the average weekly expenditure grew exponentially, favored by the pandemic first and inflation after. Food affordability Since the pandemic, food affordability has been a challenge for consumers around the world, leading to changes around their food consumption. In the United States, meats, specialty foods and snacks are among the less purchased products, other changes include the purchase of generic products to save money on groceries. Generational differences Due to the rise of online grocery shopping, the difference in generational consumer behavior is significant. Millennials are most likely to shop online for their groceries, followed by Gen Z, while older generations prefer in-store shopping. When it comes to shopping frequency, those aged between 25 and 34 tended to shop more often compared to the youngest and oldest generations.

In 2023, ** percent of consumers shopping for groceries online in the United States were open to buying products that they've never purchased before. This figure is down *** percent than in the previous yea

This statistic depicts the results of a 2018 survey in which consumers who had made online grocery purchases in the United States were asked what kind of products they had purchased online. In 2018, baby food was the least commonly purchased grocery item, with only * percent of respondents purchasing it in the past year.