We all need to eat and, for a majority of consumers, that involves the chore of grocery shopping, but how and when do most consumers go about it?
When do we shop?
Nearly half of consumers shop for groceries on Fridays (45%) or Saturdays (46%) with Sundays (37%) and Wednesdays (36%) being the next most popular days. Only a few (<3%) do not shop for groceries themselves. consumers who identify as homemakers or disabled were significantly more likely to shop during the work week than those who had traditional employment. retirees are less likely to shop on saturdays (37%) and sundays (29%). male senior citizens were more likely to buy food mid-week, with wednesday (49%) being their most likely day to>
Can you get that for me?
Most consumers are still going to brick-and-mortar grocers. with (58%) having never used an online grocery shopping service. While an increasing number of online services and the rise of the gig-economy provide for online groceries, only 9% often or always shop for groceries online. As with most technological innovations, adoption is highest with the young: 60% of 25-34 year olds purchase online at least rarely, and 57% of 35-44 year olds do so, compared to just 22% of seniors.
The next trend will be using voice assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google) in smartphones or smart-home devices to order groceries: 20% of 25-44 have tried it, with 29% of men 25-44 vs. 12% of women 25-44.
Meat’s back on the menu, boys! (And girls!)
Despite growing interest in veganism and vegetarianism, only 2% of grocery shoppers never purchase meat at all: 26% always purchase meat when grocery shopping, and 39% often do so.
Adults aged 25-54 often or always buy meat (71%) when they shop for food, compared to just 46% of seniors. Purchase frequency doesn’t vary by gender.
As a household’s size increases so does its consumption of meat, rising from 48% buying meat regularly in single-person homes to 85% in six-person households, which is not surprising since consumers with children 25 and younger were more likely to buy meat regularly when shopping (74%) than those without (58%).
Consumers in the West (56%) are statistically less likely to purchase meat as often as those in the rest of the United States (67%).
This online survey had 1,000 respondents, of whom 972 purchased groceries. The survey was fielded from June 18 to 19, 2019. For more, please check out the slides below and the general methodology.
Author Notes:
Jeffrey Henning
