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Brick Meets Click attributed the growth to a record-setting number of monthly active users (MAUs), sustained increases in order frequency and increases in average order value (AOV).

Online grocery sales in the U.S. increased by more than $1 billion for the second straight month in September, according to data from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus.

September’s online grocery sales eclipse those of August 2025, which had already set a new monthly record by about $700 million. Additionally, online orders accounted for the highest share of grocery sales since the earliest days of the pandemic, according to the companies.

“A sign of the growing challenges facing regional grocers is the sharp increase in the share of Grocery MAUs that also completed at least one eGrocery order with Mass [Merchants] during September versus the two prior years,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click, in a statement. “The results reveal cross-shopping rates with Walmart continued to expand significantly in 2025, and the rate for Target also increased [year over year], even though it remains significantly lower than Walmart.”

Brick Meets Click and Mercatus categorize online grocery sales based on three receiving methods:

  • Delivery: Includes orders received from a first- or third-party provider like Instacart, Shipt or the retailer’s own employees.
  • Pickup: Includes orders received by customers either inside or outside a store or at a designated location/locker.
  • Ship-to-home: Includes orders that consumers receive via common or contract carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.

All three receiving methods saw increases in sales during the month, according to Brick Meets Click.

Online grocery sales in September

In September 2025, U.S. online grocery sales reached a new peak of $12.5 billion. That’s 31% growth — or $3 billion more — compared to the same month in 2024.

It’s also $1.3 billion more than August 2025 (or 11.6% growth), which itself produced $1.2 billion more in online grocery sales than July 2025.

Brick Meets Click attributed the growth to:

  • A record-setting number of monthly active users (MAUs)
  • Sustained increases in order frequency
  • Increases in average order value (AOV)

The number of MAUs increased nearly 13% year over year in September. Brick Meets Click attributed that largely to retailers re-engaging less-frequent customers who most recently bought groceries online two or more months prior.

The number of orders per MAU increased 9% year over year in September. That marked 13 straight months of year-over-year growth in order frequency, per Brick Meets Click. The share of MAUs who completed three or more online grocery orders increased in September, fueling the growth in order frequency.

Big players, changes in the online grocery space

Among the notable changes in the online grocery market in the U.S. in September, Aldi joined Uber Eats and Walmart added refrigerated pharmacy items for same-day delivery. In late September, Kroger announced a partnership with DoorDash that put about 2,700 stores on the delivery service’s platform immediately.

DoorDash also debuted new fulfillment services and a delivery robot for retailers. It announced that its DashMart Fulfillment Services — a logistics service for retailers — manages inventory, packing and last-mile delivery.

Additionally, Amazon announced in August that it would expand its same- and next-day grocery delivery to more than 1,000 U.S. cities and towns. That same month, grocery wholesaler Merchants Distributors (MDI) announced it’s working with Instacart to offer same-day delivery.

Amazon, Walmart, Target and Kroger are among the top 10 online retailers in North America, based on their annual ecommerce sales. Albertsons, the second-largest retailer in the Food & Beverage category of the Top 2000, announced in October that it has introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) search tool to its mobile app to help customers “build smarter baskets faster.” It’s also partnering with OpenAI “to use agentic AI to power merchandising intelligence.”

Click here to read last month’s update on online grocery sales.

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