Still a small part of the roughly $1 trillion U.S. grocery market, online sales of food, beverages, toothpaste and other consumer packaged goods (CPGs) are growing much faster than offline sales, which have remained relatively flat. For example, online CPG sales grew 29.0% in the 52 weeks ended Aug. 25, compared with 2.6% growth among the total CPG market, according to Nielsen Holdings PLC and ecommerce market research firm Rakuten Intelligence.

That rapid growth online has prompted major retailers to invest more than $28 billion in grocery ecommerce capabilities over the past 18 months, according to a recent report by CommonSense Robotics Ltd., an Israel-based company that makes warehouse robots for fulfillment centers. Most of that money was spent to support a surge in at-store pickup locations and home same-day delivery by major retailers, or on acquisitions such as Amazon.com Inc.’s $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc. and Target Corp.’s $550 million acquisition of the Shipt same-day delivery service.

In this article, you will:

  • Learn how grocery store operators including including Ahold Delhaize USA, Albertsons Cos. Inc., Kroger Co., Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. significantly boosted their omnichannel capabilities in 2018.
  • Why grocery retailers believe ecommerce is essential to their futures.
  • What consumer perception of current online buying options say about the state of grocery ecommerce.

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