As more Americans turn to the Internet to order their groceries, most still prefer to pick out highly perishable items — a container of yogurt, carton of milk, or pound of bacon — in person, according to a Morning Consult poll.
The Washington D.C.-based firm surveyed 2,177 adults between from June 20-21, a week after Amazon’s announced its $13.7 billion deal to acquire Whole Food Market. It’s been speculated that this could be bad news for Costco, great news for consumers and lead to a culture clash as the famously cut-throat Amazon teams up with a decidedly more laid back Whole Foods.
What’s clear is that this makes Amazon a lot more competitive in the online grocery ordering space. But most Americans are still a little uneasy about letting someone else pick up and delivery their groceries, especially when it comes to fresh meat and dairy.
Morning Consult specifically asked survey takers if they had ever used AmazonFresh, Peapod, FreshDirect, Netgrocer, Instacart or another online grocery delivery service. While 42% said they had used AmazonFresh, the next two most popular responses were “Other” (28%) and FreshDirect (13%).
Two out of five adults polled said they had used AmazonFresh before. Amazon’s grocery delivery service polled especially well adults under 45. Of all the 18- to 29-year-olds polled, 49% had used AmazonFresh before. And of the 30- to 44-year-olds polled, 53% had used the service before.
More generally speaking, one in five adults said they had used any online retailer for at home grocery delivery. Food delivery services polled significantly higher among — and have apparently had better luck gaining traction with — adults with post-graduate degrees (36%), liberals (32%) and Hispanic/Latinx polltakers (37%).
When it comes to delivery fees, 2 in 3 shoppers think $5 is reasonable, according to the poll. And the same number of people said they would be unlikely to pay a $20 delivery fee.
Here’s how some current services stack up —
- Instacart: $5.99 for 1-hour rush, $3.99 for non-rush
- AmazonFresh: Free over $40; $9.99 for under $40
- Peapod: $6.95 for orders over $100; $9.95 for orders between $60 and $100
- FreshDirect: $79 unlimited deliveries for 6 months, $129 for a year
- Google Express: $4.99 for non-members; free with a $10/month or $95/year membership