Online Grocery Shopping Participation Varied by Sociodemographic Group in 2022 and 2023

A shift in U.S. consumer preferences toward online grocery shopping gained momentum in 2020 amid the social-distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service in April 2020 started to expand its Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) to include online purchasing, enabling participants in all 50 States and the District of Columbia to use SNAP benefits to buy groceries online from authorized, participating retailers. But how widespread is online grocery shopping? And who are more likely to engage in online grocery shopping?

To address these types of questions, the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) developed the Eating and Health Module (EHM) of the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey (ATUS). In the 2022 EHM, the survey for the first time captured nationally representative data on the prevalence and frequency of online grocery shopping. The findings showed that about 1 in 5 U.S. grocery shoppers aged 15 and older (19.4 percent) had bought groceries online at least once in the past 30 days in 2022 and 2023. However, ERS researchers found not all demographic groups engaged in online grocery shopping at the same rate, with statistically significant differences across sociodemographic groups.

Predictions for the likelihood of online grocery shopping, derived from a regression model, show that in 2022 and 2023 the likelihood of online grocery shopping was 20 percent for SNAP participants. That result was statistically indistinguishable from the corresponding likelihood among SNAP nonparticipants who were ineligible for SNAP benefits based on their income (above 200 percent of the Federal poverty line). However, income-eligible SNAP nonparticipants had a lower likelihood of online grocery shopping (16 percent), a statistically significant difference from their income-ineligible counterparts.

Younger age groups were more likely to engage in online grocery shopping in 2022 and 2023, with 26 percent of individuals aged 15-24 engaging in this behavior, followed by 24 percent of those aged 25-54, although this was not statistically different from the younger group's likelihood. The likelihood of individuals aged 55 and older shopping for groceries online was significantly lower at 12 percent.

Gender also played a role, with women (22 percent) more likely than men (16 percent) to engage in online grocery shopping in 2022 and 2023. The presence of children under age 18 in the household increased the likelihood of online shopping by 5 percentage points compared with individuals without children (23 percent versus 18 percent), while the presence of a spouse or partner in the household increased the likelihood by 2 percentage points compared with households without a spouse or partner present (20 percent versus 18 percent).

ERS researchers considered shoppers who reported doing "a lot" or "all" of the household grocery shopping as "frequent grocery shoppers" and those who reported doing "a little" or "some" of the household grocery shopping as "nonfrequent" shoppers. Frequent grocery shoppers were more inclined to buy online, compared with nonfrequent shoppers (20 percent versus 18 percent).

Additionally, non-Hispanic White individuals (21 percent) were more likely to engage in online grocery shopping than Hispanic individuals (17 percent), non-Hispanic Black individuals (18 percent), and people from other non-Hispanic racial backgrounds (16 percent).

The largest disparity among demographic characteristics was the difference in an individual's education level, with individuals with higher educational attainment more likely to buy groceries online. People holding a high school diploma or GED (15 percent) were more likely to shop online than individuals who had not finished high school (10 percent). The likelihood of shopping online increased further with additional education: 21 percent of individuals with some college or associate's degrees were likely to shop online, as were 22 percent with bachelor's degrees, and 26 percent with advanced degrees.

The likelihood of online grocery shopping for unemployed individuals was 21 percent, compared with 19 percent for those who were employed. For respondents living in metropolitan areas, 20 percent were likely to shop for groceries online, as were 18 percent of those in nonmetropolitan areas. However, these differences were not statistically significantly different from zero.

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