Three quarters of UK consumers now use the internet as part of their grocery shopping, a study suggests, while almost a third plan to buy food or drink online in future.
The 2012 Nielsen Global Survey of Digital’s Influence on Grocery Shopping found that 74% of UK consumers now went online for their grocery shopping. Of those, 48% were looking for deals, 30% used coupon websites and 25% compared prices. More than a quarter (26%) of those looking for grocery coupons did so every day.
When it comes to actually making the purchase, 27% of the UK consumers quizzed said they planned to buy food and drink online in the months ahead. That makes the category the third most popular in the UK, behind travel bookings (30%) and books, newspapers and magazines (28%).
Almost half (47%) said they also used the internet to research groceries in ways such as checking prices or reading a review, and in all, 46% of UK respondents to the study said the internet occupied at least a quarter of their total grocery activity time, both online and offline, and 27% said it accounted for at least half of their total grocery time.
Nielsen UK head of retailer insight Mike Watkins said: “Grocery shopping and the Internet go together like bread and butter for three-quarters of Brits. It shows just how aware supermarkets and brands need to be about how it impacts their bottom line – not just in what products people buy, but the prices they pay and where they get them from.
“One in every 10 Brits online uses the web for grocery shopping research every day, while eight percent visit a coupon site daily for grocery deals. The growth in smartphones and apps makes this easier than ever. Retailers cannot ignore trends such as that.”
