Supermarkets: Why Greeks consumers choose online shopping

Saving time, easier price comparison, quick product identification and ease of shopping from the comfort of your home at all hours of the day are the fourfold choice of shopping from online supermarkets for Greek consumers. In fact, 17.1% already shop online once a week.

According to EXCEED CONSULTING research on “The habits, preferences of e-shoppers and why they choose an online super market”, the main reasons for choosing to buy from an online supermarket are related to saving time and easier price comparison. Saving time is the main selection criterion for almost seven out of ten consumers, followed by the convenience of online shopping (55.7%).

The survey was carried out by random physical sampling of a sample of 1,000 e-shoppers in e-supermarkets, men and women aged 25 to 55, across the country, and showed that 74.9% consider e-supermarkets to save time compared to purchases from physical stores, 65.4% consider that they make their purchases easier and more targeted, 57.4% consider that the alternatives given regarding the delivery of the products in relation to physical stores are particularly helpful, while almost one in two consumers estimate that they think they have a better/easier ability to compare prices.

The speed of order delivery is for most an important criterion in choosing the online supermarket, with 29.6% considering that the delivery time absolutely affects the choice of the store and 36.7% very much.

However, although convenience is a key driver of the shift to online supermarkets, 43% of consumers continue to choose brick-and-mortar for their primary food purchases. Finally, the same survey showed that 67% of e-shoppers prefer to pick up the products they buy on their premises from a supermarket employee, 22% through a third party, 7% themselves from the physical store and 5% from a collection box.

However, competitive prices (66.6%), product variety (57.2%) and attractive offers (54.6%) are the three most important things that influence consumers to win over a physical store, which shows that so far, although online consumers are increasing and supermarket chains are investing more and more in digital stores, inflation makes Greeks continue to visit physical stores for their market research, since in the end convenience does not prevail over best price.