Study shows that consumers still prefer visiting supermarkets for groceries

Despite all the hype around online ordering and delivery services, a recent study conducted by TABS Analytics found that conventional supermarkets and Walmart are overwhelmingly the top destinations for regular grocery shopping.

Of the 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed, 75% said traditional grocery stores were the retail venues they regularly visited to buy food and beverages (more than six times per month), and 57% cited Walmart.

However, compared to last year, 2% fewer people named supermarkets and Walmart as the places they regularly shop for food and beverages, and 2% - 4% more customers named dollar stores, drug stores and discount grocery stores. Target, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods saw gains as well.

Just one in six consumers said they regularly shopped online for groceries.

Whole Foods taking a small bite out of Trader Joe's traffic

In the past year, Whole Foods has increased foot traffic at the expense of Trader Joe's, Walgreen's and Dollar Tree, according to Sense360, a California-based company that tracks location data from millions of smartphone users. The data covers Whole Foods locations that are within a mile of competing stores.

In addition, the number of shoppers who visited a Whole Foods at least six times in the past year increased to 11 percent in August as compared to 9 percent a year earlier, according to surveys by consumer products research company Tabs Analytics.

As for the competition for grocery dollars between Amazon / Whole Foods and Walmart, a former Amazon executive said that Amazon is "willing to experiment and be totally misunderstood for long periods of time. Walmart is built to deliver pallets to 4,000 stores and Amazon is built to deliver packages to millions of homes. Who do you want to bet on: the pallet people or the package people?"

Albertsons banners - including Acme - to expand e-commerce

On the heels of a recent analyst report recommending that food retailers slow their e-commerce efforts, MyWebGrocer announced that several Albertsons banners - including Acme - plan to add "click-and-collect" and delivery service on its platform. Albertsons has used MyWebGrocer's software since 2012 for online shopping lists and circulars.

A report released earlier this month by Tabs Analytics reported that just 4.5% of all shoppers are using the Internet to buy groceries six or more times per year, and concluded that "consumers have turned their backs on buying groceries online."

Related story: Study concludes that food retailers should focus on families, not e-commerce or millennials

Study concludes that food retailers should focus on families, not e-commerce or millennials

A study on food and beverage buying released earlier this month by Tabs Analytics concluded that food retailers should slow their investments in e-commerce and on millennials, and focus instead on old-fashioned promotional spending at stores and on marketing to households with children.

The study included 1,000 geographically and demographically dispersed consumers between 18 and 75, and analyzed 15 consumables categories.

According to the study, only 20% of millennials are heavy buyers of food and consumables, and only 4.5% of all shoppers use the Internet to purchase groceries six or more times per year.

"The study underscores that online grocery is failing," said Tabs CEO Kurt Jetta. "For the fourth year in a row, consumers have turned their backs on buying groceries online no matter how much online grocery retailers try to entice them."

In addition, since the study showed that millennials use grocery store circulars significantly less than the overall study average (30% compared to 42%), Jetta said retailers should focus their marketing on households with children, as they are heavy buyers of food and beverages, and much more likely to respond to promotions.