eCommerce: Online Supermarkets

Top Online Supermarkets Worldwide: Key Insights

• Online Grocery Shopping: The market has undergone notable shifts, with marketplace and supermarket dominance waning while branded and specialized retailer websites gain ground; these changes point to loyalty programs as a critical tool for retaining customer engagement. 

• Loyalty Programs: Supermarkets dominate in the realm of loyalty programs with a 47% share, outpacing marketplaces and other retail sectors, highlighting the pivotal role of such schemes in retaining customer trust and engagement. 

• Top 10 Worldwide: Online grocery rivalry intensifies in the UK and U.S. as Sainsbury's surpasses Tesco for the top spot in 2022 and Stopandshop.com enters the top 10. Meanwhile, Rt-mart soars with 47.8% growth, contrasting with declines at traditional leaders like Tesco and Asda, revealing a fragmented market landscape.

• Category Focus: Except for Asda, all supermarkets in our top 10

  focus on the Grocery category for the majority of their sales.

Digital shopping has become a major trend, and its effect on how we buy groceries is distinct. Initially, online grocery shopping was not very common, but it gained importance during the pandemic, revealing its strengths and weaknesses. Now, as we move past the crisis, important questions arise about the future of online grocery stores.

This article will explore the top online grocery stores worldwide, their strategies for keeping customers coming back, and what their financial success reveals about the online grocery business.

Online Supermarkets 2023:
Market Share Declining 

Recent data from Wunderman Thompson reveals nuanced shifts in online grocery shopping over recent years. 

Marketplaces have seen their dominance erode, dipping from a 42% market share in 2021 to 35% in 2023. Online supermarkets are also experiencing a decline, but it's less dramatic, dropping from 18% in 2021 to 15% in 2023.

On the flip side, branded websites (e.g. Apple, Nike) are gaining traction, increasing their market share from 8% in 2021 to 14% in 2023. Similarly, specialized retailer websites inched up, from a 12% share in 2021 to 13% in 2023. Additionally, aggregator and delivery apps, as well as in-app purchasing options, have taken a hit, plummeting to just a 5% market share in 2023. 

These shifts naturally raise the question: Why are consumers choosing specific channels? As competition tightens, loyalty schemes emerge as a key strategy for online supermarkets to retain consumer engagement and spending. 

Loyalty Programs: Supermarkets Most Popular Globally With 47% 

Loyalty schemes are a significant aspect of modern retail, and supermarkets lead the pack in this arena. The same Wunderman Thompson report mentioned earlier provides further useful insights into the topic. 

With a 47% share, supermarket loyalty programs like the Tesco Clubcard are the most popular among consumers globally. This underscores the trust and reliability customers associate with their go-to supermarkets, keeping them engaged through rewards and exclusive offers.

By comparison, the leading marketplaces in various regions trail behind at 37%. Health & Beauty schemes, represented by programs like Boots Advantage Card, take the third spot at 30%. Department store-based programs like My John Lewis and fashion-oriented ones such as H&M Club are tied in the fourth position, each capturing a 21% share. 

Having explored the intricacies of consumer loyalty programs, it's equally important to look at who is currently reigning supreme in the online grocery sector.

Top Online Supermarkets: Sainsbury's, Tesco, Kroger Top the Competition 

The online grocery sector is currently a hotbed of fierce competition, particularly in the UK and the U.S., which dominate the top spots. 

Based on our data, sainsburys.co.uk, a UK-based store, leads with eCommerce net sales of US$7.04 billion in 2022. Tesco.com, another UK heavyweight, is trailing just behind with US$7.036 billion. Not to be outdone, the American giant kroger.com is closely following with US$7.024 billion in sales. The razor-thin difference in net sales among these market leaders underscores the intense rivalry at the top.

Rt-mart.com, the lone representative from China, holds its own a notch below the leaders with US$5.50 billion. Asda.com, another UK player, pulls in US$5.31 billion. 

From Australia, woolworths.com.au is in the sixth position with US$3.73 billion, followed by ocado.com from the UK and safeway.com from the U.S., netting US$3.15 billion and US$2.96 billion, respectively. Also from Australia, coles.com.au earns US$2.05 billion. Lastly, the U.S.-based stopandshop.com rounds out the top ten with US$1.81 billion.

Financial might, however, tells only part of the story. Equally revealing is the speed at which these key players are either accelerating or slowing down.

Rt-mart.com Grew by 47.8% in 2022

In 2022, the growth rates for online supermarkets showed considerable variation. Among those that experienced growth, Rt-mart.com led the way with an impressive YoY (year-on-year) growth of 47.8%.

Stopandshop.com followed with a 35.1% growth rate, a noteworthy performance especially given its recent rise into the top 10. Safeway.com also saw strong growth, posting a 24.6% increase. Woolworths.com.au had a healthy growth rate of 5.5%. In contrast, Ocado.com saw only a marginal increase of 0.4%. 

On the flip side, some stores faced declines. Tesco.com took the hardest hit with an 8.1% decrease, followed by Asda.com, which saw a 7.1% drop. Sainsburys.co.uk, Coles.com.au and Kroger.com experienced smaller declines of 5.4%, 2.4% and 0.1% respectively.

Learn More About the ECDB Store Rankings

Sainsbury's Takes Top Spot from Tesco

While growth rates provide a snapshot of recent performance, how these figures affect the long-term standing in market rankings can be a tale unto itself. Looking at the changes in the global market rankings, we see that the top three spots in the online supermarket rankings have been held by the same players for the past several years: Sainsburys.co.uk, Tesco.com and Kroger.com.

With that being said, 2022 still saw significant changes. Sainsbury's ascended to the top spot in 2022, overtaking Tesco, which had held the #1 position until then and moved to #2. Meanwhile, Kroger maintained its presence in the top three, despite shifting down a rank. 

Outside the top three, the most noteworthy change was by Stopandshop.com. The online supermarket, which has shown a steady rise over the years, made a dramatic leap from 20th place in 2019 to enter the top 10 for the first time in 2022 at 10th place.

Safeway.com: Grocery Makes
Over 80% of Its Revenue

In our last section, we will have a look at what type of products these online supermarkets are selling to better understand what niches these players go for. According to our 2022 figures, Safeway.com makes majority (82.4%) of its sales in the Grocery category. Coles.com.au closely follows, allocating 69% to the same category.

Tesco.com and Sainsburys.co.uk also lean heavily on the Grocery category, accounting for 65% and 58% of their sales, respectively. Stopandshop.com, Ocado.com and Woolworths.com.au also generate over 50% of their revenue from the Grocery category – 55% for Stop & Shop, 53% for both Ocado and Woolworths.

Remaining three online stores all make less than half of their revenue through the Grocery category. Namely, Kroger.com stands at 37.8%, while Rt-mart.com and Asda.com follow with the respective percentages of 33% and 27%.

Sources: Wunderman Thompson, Statista, ECDB