I’m sure you’re like me and during the midst of the pandemic you kicked up your online shopping a few notches. But while online sales have boomed, there are many items that people still want to get at a physical store location. I know I’m one of those people who prefer to purchase some items at a brick-and-mortar store!
According to NielsenIQ, over 22 million new U.S. consumers have begun shopping online since March 2020. Overall growth has been strong among online sales of health, beauty, and food products.
Items Purchased In An Actual, Physical Store
Despite many products seeing substantial online sales growth, there are a handful of products that consumers still prefer purchasing in a physical store. These items include respiratory care, feminine care, oral hygiene, and deodorant.
According to NielsenIQ, three reasons for the relatively lagging amount of online purchases of health and beauty products include a preference for shopping in-store, immediate needs for a given product, and longer-than-ideal delivery timeframes. So many shoppers have a preference for going to mass merchandisers, grocery, and drug stores when purchasing those types of products.
Online Grocery Sales
In terms of online grocery sales, that figure grew by 125%, bringing online’s share of total food and beverage sales to 12% during the 52 weeks ended Dec. 26, 2020, according to NielsenIQ.
Despite the huge growth rate, some food items are still almost entirely purchased in-store, with many of these products being perishable. According to NielsenIQ, 46% of shoppers prefer to purchase their fresh, frozen, and refrigerated products in-person. This may be due to consumer’s fears of product ripeness or potentially receiving a product nearing its expiration date.
What products do you prefer to purchase in-store? What items do you always purchase online? Let us know by using the Comments section below.
Remember to report ALL your purchases, whether you bought something online or in-store.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Best wishes,
Taylor
Also see:
- Getting Online Deliveries? (April 10, 2020)
- Stocking Up (April 3, 2020)
I may be the strange one, but I actually like shopping. It is just good to get away from things for a while.
I still purchase all of my food in a physical store. I especially like choosing my own milk, fruits, vegetables, and breads. The expiration date on most items is a huge deal for me. I’m very picky with my milk and bread dates haha The deodorant and feminine and oral care items you mentioned make a lot of sense to me because I buy those products in a store when needed rather than buying them ahead of time. I have been purchasing my cat food and litter online this past year instead of in store and definitely almost all of my clothing purchases have been purchased online as well, which is a huge difference compared to any other year. Great article!!
I like buying all my groceries at the local PNS or Walmart. Produce is definitely something I would never buy online.
I do all my grocery shopping at the store.
We live in a rural area so we can only order shelf stable food to be shipped to us. No fresh or frozen food delivery here at all. I tried the order online with curb side pickup and was not at all satisfied with the result (they couldn’t find the Diet Coke that was on sale!!) I had to go in the store anyway. So I just go when I know it isn’t busy & do it all.
I refuse to let anyone else pick out my produce or meat. I need to make sure I get the freshest looking items, the largest or best looking head of lettuce, for example…the greenest celery, the apples with NO bruises, etc….
Some meat is better lean, but some is better with just the right amount of marbling of fat. I buy the perfect weight for a family package of hamburger on sale, so that I can divide it into smaller packages for the freezer at home. No one can do THAT for me. I need to pick chicken breast with pink meat, not GRAY-looking, and I need to make sure they have not tucked in a layer of fat underneath that I will be paying for only to discard at home.
In these areas, ALL THINGS ARE NOT EQUAL!!
I agree completely