People Would Rather Grocery Shop In-Store Than Online, Study Finds

It may seem like everyone is buying everything online, but there is still one place customers would rather shop in person — the supermarket. Even though it only takes a few keystrokes to fill your cart with snacks and produce, people would still rather experience shopping for groceries in a store, whether they're at a Walmart or a Kroger.

America's Best Supermarkets for 2018

According to the TABS Analytics 6th Annual Food and Beverage Consumables Study, customers would rather pick their produce IRL and push carts around to the dulcet tones of Muzak than shop for their food online. Out of 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed, 75 percent of them said they visit traditional grocery stores more than six times per month to buy food. Only 17 percent preferred shopping online.

Dr. Kurt Jetta, the president and founder of TABS Analytics, said of the disparity, "Online retailers still have a lot of ground to make up to see the same kind of penetration we've seen in other markets, such as vitamins and products for children."

The favorite brick-and-mortar store for groceries was Walmart. Fifty-seven percent of those 1,000 adults said that they shop there the most. Amazon was the most popular place for online grocery shoppers, followed by Walmart.com and Target.com. More online shopping was one of our food trend predictions for 2018.