Retail Feedback Group (RFG) determined that Amazon led in ratings of U.S. online grocery shopping. On a scale of 1 to 5 Amazon scored 4.47 for online grocery customer satisfaction ahead of Wal-Mart achieving a 4.38 overall satisfaction score. Instacart earned a score of 4.35, below the mean value. RFG noted that results may have been skewed by the high demand for online shopping during home confinement following the advent of COVID-19.
The study included 2,000 shoppers between April and May. The high scores are at variance with findings that half of those surveyed experienced difficulty in obtaining the specific items they ordered. In the event of out-of-stock, less than 20 percent were able to purchase an acceptable substitute. Nearly half of respondents (45 percent) did not receive all of the items ordered online with Amazon the least implicated, comprising only 31 percent of negative responses.
Online grocery shoppers were more satisfied with pick-up and delivery times conforming to the requested delivery windows. Amazon led in this category with a score of 4.32. Brian Numainville, of RFG commented, “considering the sudden, sizeable pressure on online grocery shopping during the pandemic, it is noteworthy the overall satisfaction registered as high as it did.”
It is apparent that shoppers are using more than one source for their requirements with 34 percent of respondents purchasing from two suppliers, 19 percent from three online grocery providers and four percent from four or more. Online grocery orders were filled by pick-up for 51 percent of responses with the remainder by delivery. It was noteworthy Instacart rose to a proportion of 36 percent of orders in the 2020 study compared to 27 percent in 2019, again attributed to the “COVID surge”.
In reviewing future trends, RFG determined that 52 percent of shoppers claimed they will order more from Amazon compared to 46 percent for Wal-Mart and 44 percent from supermarkets. Numainville commented “although supermarkets surged in online shopping use and many customers may stick, the results show some supermarket shoppers don’t expect to continue online.”