Study reveals Americans plan to increase virtual shopping

The internet is quickly becoming the virtual grocery store for many U.S. consumers, with 52 million currently grocery shopping online, according to new study from The NPD Group, Chicago. In fact, the report, “The Virtual Grocery Store. ,” says that 20 million consumers who are current, lapsed or new to online grocery shopping plan to increase their virtual shopping for foods and beverages over the next six months.  

Although online grocery shopping lags other e-commerce industries in terms of development, the fundamental shift in the country’s demographics is one of the reasons there is now greater adoption of shopping for foods and beverages online.  Among the key groups favoring online grocery shopping are the younger generations, particularly Millennials and Gen Zs, who were born into the tech era.