UK Online grocery sales to double by 2016

I read an interesting article today citing that the value of grocery sales online is expected to double over the next five years and reach £11.2bn, according to industry body IGD. This means that the share of sales made online is predicted to become 6% of all grocery sales. That compares to the 3.8%, estimated for 2011.

IGD’s report reveals that 44% of consumers plan to shop online over the next five to ten years, while at present the number stands at 17%. Clearly, there is still a marked interest in online grocery shopping and brands should take advantage of this.

In fact, the four biggest retail chains have all improved their online platforms this year, suggesting that businesses are ready for the anticipated growth of sales. Morrisons, for instance, has made a huge step forward with the acquisition of the US online network FreshDirect, just about a month after research found out that the chain lost out on £300m, due to its failure to provide competitive online shopping options.

IGD’s chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch commented that technology is developing at a very high speed and that trend is likely to continue. Statistics show that over a quarter of UK adults own a smartphone and almost 60% of them bought theirs in the last 12 months.