With online grocery orders hitting record highs, regional grocers are responding with smarter fulfillment and tech-forward strategies.
More than 60% of U.S. households bought groceries online last month — and the pressure is on for regional grocers to keep up.
Online grocery sales jump 26% year over year
U.S. online grocery sales hit $10 billion in July, a 26% year-over-year increase driven by record household penetration, according to the latest report from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus.
Roughly 61% of U.S. households — about 81 million people — bought groceries online last month. Online captured 17.2% of total grocery spend, up more than 300 basis points year over year. Every fulfillment method posted gains:
- Delivery led the pack with $4.3 billion in sales, up 36% year over year
- Pickup rose 24% to $4 billion
- Ship-to-home brought in $1.6 billion, a 10% increase
A key stat operators should know: repeat delivery and pickup users (four-plus orders in three months) spent 50% more per order than first-timers.
Free delivery is unlocking demand
According to Brick Meets Click’s David Bishop, “The elimination of explicit fees, like the standard delivery cost, via a membership or subscription program, removes a top barrier to increased usage… This tactic is unlocking latent demand for Delivery.”
Amazon knows this game cold.
Just days before the July sales data dropped, Amazon expanded its same-day grocery delivery to over 1,000 cities and towns. It plans to reach 2,300 by year’s end. The kicker? For Prime members, it’s free on orders over $25. For everyone else, it’s $12.99.
They’re not just delivering eggs and bananas. Amazon’s “one-cart” setup lets customers buy groceries and non-food items together — a big convenience flex that regional grocers simply can’t match without burning margin.
Oh, and it’s working. According to Amazon, shoppers who used the new service ordered groceries twice as frequently as those who didn’t. Strawberries outranked AirPods in the top 10 cart items.
Mass retailers are squeezing regional grocers
Mass retailers saw order frequency rise in July, while supermarkets saw a slight decline, according to Brick Meets Click.
And Amazon’s not the only giant growing leaner and meaner. Ahold Delhaize just achieved e-commerce profitability on a fully allocated basis. CEO Frans Muller credits “asset-light fulfillment models” and retail media. Their banners — like Food Lion and Stop & Shop — are leaning on store fulfillment and automation to stay profitable while scaling online.
Meanwhile, Food Lion rolled out AI-powered pickup at all 1,100+ locations, slashing wait times by 40% and logging a 4.8/5 satisfaction score. Tactical? Yes. But also a signal: even legacy players are investing hard to keep pickup alive while delivery dominates the narrative.
So what should operators actually do?
📉 Pickup is under pressure
📦 Delivery is the growth engine
💰 Loyalty is driven by volume, not vibes
🧠 And profitability hinges on infrastructure, data, and margin math
Regional players can’t out-Amazon Amazon. But they can lean into first-party data, personalized offers, and smarter fulfillment strategies to claw back wallet share.
Because here’s the truth: if you’re still charging $6.99 for delivery and hoping shoppers don’t notice that strawberries are now cheaper on Prime, you’re already behind.
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