Feeling Safe and Sound in the Grocery Store?
May 26, 2020 
Understandably, the coronavirus has sparked more online grocery shopping activity among consumers.
If I could, I’d love to give my own little economic boost to the fruit-growing industry. With all $1,200 of my stimulus cash in hand, I’d head to the grocery store and binge-buy apples, blackberries, and pistachios. Plenty of pistachios. Heaven knows that would be a healthier alternative to what’s become my daily work-from-home special since March 19 — 2-liter bottles of Pepsi.
Unfortunately, as of this post, I have yet to see a penny from the federal government. Nor has my wife. Ditto for our two study-from-home sons (although they may have covertly pre-arranged each of their $500 payments to be deposited directly into their Xbox accounts).
According to the IRS, the checks are in the mail, er, “being processed.” Hopefully, they’re talking sometime before the coming of COVID-21.
In the meantime, most of my resources during this coronavirus lockdown are being dedicated to the most popular fruit in our household — the honey-do. Gone these days are the excuses to put off cleaning the 75-gallon aquarium or cutting the $175-a-month cord or getting down to 175 pounds.
Grocery shopping is actually one of the few chores that isn’t on my to-do list, and that’s only because my wife has yet to sway from her pre-corona way of life. Apparently she’s not alone, which is a bit of good news for fruit growers.
According to a Harris Interactive/Toluna survey of 1,047 Americans, 70% said they have still been visiting stores to buy their groceries rather than ordering online.
“Despite the social distancing and government warnings to stay home, Americans are still shopping for their groceries in store, and if they can’t easily find what they need, they are willing to pay more,” Lucia Juliano, Head of CPG and Retail Research at Harris Interactive and Toluna, said. “It’s very clear that consumers recognize retailers, service providers, and brands are doing a phenomenal job working to get the public what they need and are communicating to their shoppers regularly and appropriately.”
According to a separate survey by digital product testing firm First Insight, a majority of consumers actually feel safest shopping in grocery stores (54%). Behind are drug store chains (50%), big box retailers (45%), local small businesses and warehouse clubs (43%), and, in last place, shopping malls (33%).
“As retailers and brands grapple with big questions related to reopening stores, it’s clear from our findings that consumers have varying degrees of comfort within different store environments and formats,” First Insight CEO Greg Petro said.
As popular and safe as grocery stores might be in the eyes of consumers, online grocery shopping is thriving in its own right. Before the pandemic struck, the online share of grocery sales in the U.S. was close to 5%. Industry expectations at that time were that sales of such, at best, could peak at 6% by the end of 2020.
Instead, a coronavirus-induced surge in online grocery demand has led to a current penetration of 9% and could reach 12% by the end of the year, according to Fabric, an on-demand fulfillment company that utilizes robots and micro-fulfillment centers. That would mean, thanks to COVID-19, more than one in 10 people will have become normalized to buying their groceries online.
Again, this is good news for fruit growers. Personally, I’ll probably stick to brick-and-mortar visits or, better yet, just let my wife continue to handle the grocery list. That fish tank isn’t going to clean itself as I continue waiting for that stimulus check.
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