Coronavirus: How Covid-19 pandemic will change the way we shop for groceries

The trend could have a lasting effect on the supermarket industry as online grocery shopping is exploding.

Shoppers across the world are turning to online purchase even for daily grocery as the coronavirus outbreak has caused thousands stuck in their homes.
The trend could have a lasting effect on the supermarket industry as online grocery shopping is exploding. Last year, online grocery shopping was just at 4 per cent in the US online, according to Neilson reported CNN.
Now, downloads of Instacart, Walmart's grocery app and Shipt increased 218 per cent, 160 per cent, and 124 per cent respectively last Sunday compared with a year prior.
"We are seeing a larger percentage of customers over the age of 60 that are coming online," said JJ Fleeman, chief e-commerce officer for Ahold Delhaize in the US, which owns brands like Stop & Shop, Food Lion and the online delivery service Peapod.
According to a survey by analysts at Gordon Haskett Research Advisors, a third of consumers purchased groceries for online pickup or delivery in the past seven days while around 41 per cent bought groceries online for the first time.
"Consumer behaviors always shift in times of disaster," said Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations at FMI, a trade group for food retailers. "People are learning new skills and how to shop online as a result of what we're experiencing today."
While, Kelly Bania, analyst for BMO Capital Markets, said in a research report this week that the Coronavirus "may hasten the adoption" of online delivery and pickup, touching off long-term challenges for smaller chains earlier than expected.