Food and beverages online purchasing in Great Britain 2020, by demographic

In 2020, 14 percent of women and around 13 percent of men had purchased food or beverages online from stores or meal-kit providers in the previous three months in Great Britain. Purchasing online was most common among the 45 to 54-year-old demographic, with 21 percent of individuals within this group having made purchases in 2020.

European online purchasing compared

Overall, 29 percent of British adults bought groceries online in 2019. The UK has long been a very established online shopping market, leading its European neighbors in the share of online grocery shoppers. In Germany, the second most established market, 22 percent of the population had shopped for groceries online in the same year. While less people shopped online for groceries in France than in Germany, the share of worldwide online grocery sales made in France was much higher than the German share. Once again, the UK led its European neighbors with 7.2 percent in 2017/2018.

Sales trend on the UK market

In previous years, online food sales in the UK grew between five and twenty-eight percent. However, at the end of 2018 and in early 2019 online grocery sales values shrank. Compared to June 2018 sales in June 2019 have declined by 5.7 percent. Measured in weekly spending, online sales of food stores peaked in Q2 of 2018 and have plateaued since then.