By David Brown
Originally published in CanadianGrocer.com
While Amazon may be a relative newcomer to the Canadian grocery game, it is dominating online grocery shopping, according to new research.
In the online survey of 1,004 Canadians, 62% of respondents who buy groceries online said they shopped at Amazon, while just 37% said Walmart, and 23% said Loblaw’s.
Amazon and Walmart’s most-preferred status should be cause for concern with Canada’s traditional grocery brands, said Sandra Kesselman, vice-president at Vancouver market research company NRG, which conducted the survey. On its own, Amazon had a bigger share of online shoppers than the traditional grocers combined.
“Amazon is years ahead of the traditional grocery stores in terms of e-commerce,” she said. “Canned goods, cleaning supplies and personal care categories have been popular at Amazon for years. With the Whole Foods acquisition, they might became even stronger.”
The familiar Canadian grocery brands, on the other hand, really only introduced their online offerings a few years ago, and what they offer has limitations in terms of regional availability and in-store pickup versus delivery.
Meanwhile, Walmart has been offering e-commerce for its customers for a while but has not done much with groceries. “That’s going to change,” she said. “Walmart is partnering with Food X to start delivering groceries in Vancouver this summer.”
The survey also suggests interest in grocery shopping online is rising fast with nearly 28% saying they shop for groceries online and 6% saying online was their “main method” of grocery shopping.
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