BARRINGTON, ILL. — The US online grocery market generated $8.7 billion in sales during February, up 8.5% from the same time last year, according to the latest Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey.

Pickup, the largest segment of eGrocery, grew 6% versus a year ago, generated $4 billion in sales, and accounted for 47% of the total sales during the month, according to the report.

Delivery reported a year-over-year gain of 37%, which equated to $3.2 billion, capturing 37% share of eGrocery spending.  

Ship-to-home, which was the largest segment pre-COVID with over 40% of spending, is now the smallest with just 16%; it finished with $1.4 billion in sales, down 24% year-over-year.

“New service providers, a broader range of retailers selling grocery-related products online, and services targeting faster cycle times contributed to delivery’s strong sales growth, but even so, more shoppers still prefer pickup for range of reasons that will benefit this service model going forward,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click.

During February, shopper interest in online grocery shopping remained strong, as more than 68 million households bought groceries from a wide variety of providers and retail channels, which was nearly 11% higher than last year’s monthly active user (MAU) base. All three segments – pickup, delivery, and ship-to-home – reported double-digit gains in their respective MAU bases, with delivery reporting the largest year-over-year gain at approximately 28%.