E-commerce grocery market surges ahead

Sales of groceries through e-commerce platforms grew by 30% in the 12 months to March, according to a new report by Kantar Worldpanel.

Stéphane Roger, Global Shopper and Retail Director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The fourth annual Future of E-commerce in FMCG study shows that e-commerce now accounts for 4.6% of all FMCG sales. Whilst the e-commerce channel is growing, the FMCG market as a whole is sluggish, increasing just 1.3% during the same period. Our projections show that in 2025, online FMCG will be a USD170 billion-dollar business and hold a 10% market share.”

In terms of absolute value growth, the top six contributors are all leading power economies, led by China and the US. The other leading lights are South Korea, the UK, Japan and France. Last year, value increased by 52% in China, 41% in South Korea, 8% in the UK, 7% in France and 5% in Japan and in the US. However, the online grocery sector is also expanding into new markets. There has been significant value growth, for example, in Thailand (+104%), Malaysia (+88%) and Vietnam (+69%) where e-commerce is in its early stages.

Further details here.