Online Grocery Gains Steam as Membership Discounts Capture Millions of Shoppers

The U.S. online grocery market reached a notable milestone in February 2025, as monthly sales surged to approximately $10.3 billion a 31% increase compared to the same period last year.

More than 80 million households placed one or more eGrocery orders, marking the ninth consecutive period of positive year-over-year growth and underscoring the steady rise in online food retail.

This growth spurt, which started shortly after widely promoted discounts on annual memberships and subscriptions, highlights how cost-saving strategies continue to attract new and returning customers.

Data from the Brick Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey conducted January 30–31, 2025, and sponsored by Mercatus, revealed that February was the seventh straight month in which online grocery sales exceeded $9.5 billion.

“We are a little more than a half year into eGrocery’s current growth curve, fueled by aggressive offers to lock in customers for at least 12 months. So far, the response from U.S. households reveals a sizable amount of latent demand that has been unlocked by offering discounts designed to help customers save more money on online grocery orders.”

David Bishop, Partner at Brick Meets Click

Delivery services led the charge with sales reaching $4.5 billion in February, surging more than 45% year over year.

This method benefited from a notable expansion in Monthly Active Users (MAUs), driven primarily by the rapid increase in orders from adults aged 60 and older, and a rebound in penetration among 18 to 29-year-olds.

Strong gains in both order frequency and Average Order Value (AOV) contributed further, elevating Delivery’s share to nearly 44% of total eGrocery sales.

Pickup, on the other hand, also registered significant growth, climbing 19% versus last year to around $4.1 billion.

While its MAU base and order frequency rate improved, the real driver for Pickup was a boost in AOV.

Even with these advances, Pickup’s overall share slipped by about 400 basis points year over year, finishing February with just over 39% of total eGrocery sales.

Ship-to-Home posted a substantial 29% increase compared to February 2024, closing the month at nearly $1.8 billion.

Like Delivery, the number of active users was the primary growth factor, possibly helped by ongoing in-store security measures such as locking products behind plexiglass that may be nudging some customers to shop online.

Although frequency and AOV rose for Ship-to-Home as well, the gains were not as pronounced as those for Delivery.

As a result, Ship-to-Home maintained roughly a 17% share of total eGrocery sales, ceding only a small margin compared to the same time last year.

From a retail format perspective, Supermarket and Mass retailers both experienced year-over-year increases in MAUs, order frequency, and AOV.

This strong performance was reflected in improved repeat intent rates for Delivery and Pickup.

The likelihood of a customer reusing the same Grocery (including Supermarkets and Hard Discounters) or Mass service within the next month finished just 7% below pre-COVID levels, setting a post-COVID record high and marking a notable leap from the corresponding rate in January 2025.

“Regional grocers are converting first-time shoppers into more loyal customers as evidenced by the rising repeat intent rates, but so is Walmart. While deep discounts have driven a lot of trial, making a good first impression is essential to longer-term success. That means providing a more seamless shopping experience by pairing relevant personalized offers, order fulfilment, and sought-after loyalty rewards to encourage customers to shop online again.”

Mark Fairhurst, Chief Growth Marketing Officer, Mercatus

Overall grocery spending grew by less than 5% during the same timeframe, so eGrocery’s 31% jump significantly outpaced the broader market.

This pushed online’s share of total grocery spending to almost 18% an increase of 370 basis points over last year.

These findings further reflect an ongoing transformation in consumer habits, fueled by convenience-driven services and cost-effective options that appear to resonate with households of all ages.