Comparing Online and In-Store Grocery Purchases

Laura Y Zatz; Alyssa J Moran; Rebecca L Franckle; Jason P Block; Tao Hou; Dan Blue; Julie C Greene; Steven Gortmaker; Sara N Bleich; Michele Polacsek; Anne N Thorndike; Eric B Rimm

doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2021.03.001

Comparing Online and In-Store Grocery Purchases

J Nutr Educ Behav. 2021 Jun;53(6):471-479. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2021.03.001.

Authors

Laura Y Zatz¹, Alyssa J Moran², Rebecca L Franckle³, Jason P Block⁴, Tao Hou⁵, Dan Blue⁶, Julie C Greene⁷, Steven Gortmaker⁸, Sara N Bleich⁹, Michele Polacsek¹⁰, Anne N Thorndike¹¹, Eric B Rimm¹²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Electronic address: laz491@mail.harvard.edu.
² Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
³ Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.
⁴ Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
⁵ Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
⁶ Hannaford Marketing, Hannaford Supermarkets, Scarborough, ME.
⁷ Guiding Stars Licensing Company, Scarborough, ME.
⁸ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
⁹ Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
¹⁰ Westbrook College of Health Professions, University of New England, Portland, ME.
¹¹ Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
¹² Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA.

PMID: 34116742
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2021.03.001

Abstract

Objective: To describe the grocery shopping patterns of people who shopped both online and in-store and evaluate whether shoppers purchased fewer unhealthy, impulse-sensitive items online.

Design: Secondary analysis of 44 weeks of grocery transaction data collected for fruit and vegetable incentive trials in 2 Maine supermarkets.

Participants: A total of 137 primary household shoppers who shopped at least once in-store and online (curbside pickup) for 5,573 total transactions MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES AND ANALYSIS: Paired t tests and descriptive analyses compared online and in-store transactions with respect to frequency, total spending, number of items purchased, and spending on 10 food groups and 34 subgroups. Mixed-effects regression models estimated differences in online vs in-store spending on 5 unhealthy, impulse-sensitive subgroups.

Results: When shopping online, participants spent 44% more per transaction ($113.58 vs $78.88, P < 0.001) and purchased more items (38.3 vs 26.6 items/transaction, P < 0.001). Compared with in-store, shopping online was associated with reduced spending per transaction on candy (-$0.65, P < 0.001), cold or frozen desserts (-$0.52, P < 0.001), and grain-based desserts (-$1.29, P < 0.001).

Conclusions and implications: Online shopping was associated with lower spending on certain unhealthy, impulse-sensitive foods. Grocery-based healthy eating initiatives might leverage online ordering platforms to increase their reach and effectiveness.

Keywords: consumer behavior; food; food preferences; grocery; internet.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Consumer Behavior*
Diet, Healthy*
Food Preferences
Humans
Motivation
Vegetables