A report by Grocery Doppio has found not only are omnichannel buyers more loyal than digital-only buyers but they also spend more.
The State of the Industry: The Omnichannel Grocery Shopper report was a study conducted jointly by Incisiv and FMI, in partnership with Wynshop to examine trends among omnichannel grocery shoppers.
The report contains interesting insights, including a growing use and comfort with a hybrid approach amongst American grocery shoppers, with digital experiences playing an ever-growing role. The study found nearly three-in-four grocery customers now shop for groceries online at least part of the time.
Omnichannel buyers spend 1.5x more every month than single-channel buyers and are more than three times more loyal than digital-only customers.
It found digital influence continues to grow, even for in-store buyers. In these categories of grocery, beverages (53%); pantry (73%); personal care (73%); household (76%) and pets (83%) the majority of sales occur through digital channels.
Also, shoppers use digital tools even before entering a store to make shopping lists (77%), confirm item availability (76%), and research an item’s location within the store (69%).
One of the eye-catching findings was omnichannel shoppers spend more than single channel patrons. For instance, patrons who buy via multiple channels spend an average of $1,043/month. This is 1.5x more than those who buy online only ($659) or in-store only ($669).
They are also more loyal than digital-only buyers. Omnichannel buyers churn, on average, after 4.2 bad experiences vs. just 1.3 for digital-only patrons.
The big question mark, and possible opportunity from the study is loyalty seems to be up for grabs. Customers reported the experience that has the highest impact on their loyalty is how grocers handle inventory status and out of stock items (84%), followed by checkout (79%), and the pickup experience (77%).
The Omnichannel Grocery Shopper report reflects interviews with more than 5,100 grocery shoppers and over 200 grocery executives, as well as data from other Grocery Doppio studies.