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Online grocery sales, which surged during the Covid pandemic as consumers avoided in-store shopping, continue to grow at a rapid pace, though the pandemic ended 13 months ago, according to the World Health Organization.
Sales of groceries online, which include curbside pickup, increased 30% year over year in May, according to Signifyd’s monthly Ecommerce Pulse data report. The increase significantly outpaces the gains in total e-commerce sales for May, which grew 12% from a year earlier.
Overall, e-commerce grocery sales have increased 23% year to date, compared to the same period a year ago.
The continued growth in online grocery sales comes as e-commerce inflation in grocery has flattened, decreasing 0.1 percentage point from 6.7% in May 2023, according to the report.
In addition to an overall increase in sales volume, the number of online grocery orders placed so far in 2024 has jumped 31% compared to a year ago, while the number of orders placed per shopper has increased 19%. Home-delivery orders grew by 25%. while curbside pickup was up 21%. The gains were achieved despite a 6% decline year to date in average order value.
Aside from groceries, other e-commerce categories posting year-over-year gains in May include auto parts and tires, which rose 5% for the month, and home goods and leisure, both of which posted a 4% gain. Categories suffering declines include luxury goods, down 3% year-over-year, and beauty/cosmetics and electronics, both down 2% from May 2023.
Despite the gains many e-commerce categories are enjoying, fraud pressure increased 35% in May year-over-year. Fraud pressure is a measure of the rise and fall of orders determined by Signifyd’s artificial-intelligence models to be very risky and most likely fraudulent.
