Online grocery took off dramatically in 2020 as a result of the pandemic; that’s no surprise to anyone. According to our estimates, food and beverage was by far the fastest-growing ecommerce category in the US in 2020. Given its low penetration and high sales growth, digital grocery is the next big opportunity in ecommerce.

The pandemic accelerated mobile trends by years, and these changes should stick even as the pandemic wanes. Many people were forced to use apps for food delivery, finance, fitness, and shopping, and they’ve become accustomed to these new behaviors. Even app categories that were hurt during the pandemic, such as travel or dating apps, have been resilient. People have acclimated to new forms of mobile shopping and activities, and they’ll be more willing to try mobile interfaces for other activities going forward.

Retail ecommerce sales in Western Europe rose by 26.3% in 2020, to €481.54 billion ($539.18 billion). The pandemic is fueling other shifts in the retail landscape, too, such as a greater focus on buying local.

“The pandemic simply accelerated these trends as consumers adapted to fitness experiences without gyms as the focal point,” he said. All of that digital fitness probably isn’t hurt by the growth of food delivery apps, which are making caloric intake easier than ever for many.

eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Paul Briggs discusses what he's paying attention to in 2021 and why: online grocery shopping, food delivery apps, and more 2021 trends to watch out for in Canada.

Boal: We’re really expanding our retail footprint. And for the first time, we’re going to be announcing partnerships with retailers that are not in our core vertical. So, not really grocery, but think categories like DIY.

Click-and-collect buyers are internet users ages 14 and older who have made at least one purchase online within the past year for pickup in a store or a locker in a retail or pickup hub location. Estimates are based on the analysis of survey and traffic data from other research firms, historical consumer adoption trends, and demographic adoption trends.

It’s also true that US digital grocery buyers have now reached critical mass. Last year, 131.6 million consumers made at least one digital grocery purchase, up 42.6% from 2019. This year, nearly half of the US population will make at least one digital grocery purchase.

In line with overall ecommerce trends, Amazon’s US sales growth was higher than expected in 2020 across every category. The largest upward revisions were to food/beverage, which grew 78.5% in 2020, compared with our pre-pandemic estimate of 22.7%. “Other”—driven by increased demand for home improvement products—grew 58.0%, compared with our pre-pandemic estimate of 18.7%.

On today's episode, we discuss sustainable shopping: the "circular economy" leading to the popularity of recommerce, social media playing a role in secondhand selling, and how smaller retailers can benefit from the pandemic-fueled local shopping trend. Tune in to the discussion as eMarketer principal analyst Bill Fisher hosts principal analyst Karin von Abrams and research director at Insider Intelligence Matteo Ceurvels.

Mobile proximity and peer-to-peer (P2P) payments have hit the mainstream, thanks to a pandemic-driven upswing in digital payments that is set to last. This trend is leading providers to diversify their offerings and compete for share of the market.

There’s no doubt that grocery shopping habits have changed over the past year, with more consumers trying online options for the first time. This year, US online grocery sales will surpass $100 billion, to make up 12.4% of the country’s ecommerce sales.

Article: In 2021, online grocery sales will surpass $100 billion. Article: Digital restaurant marketplace sales have more than doubled in 2020.

The retail industry is transforming at both physical stores and in digital. This report examines 10 trends that will most shape retail in the year ahead.

This in turn led to an unexpectedly strong outcome for spending on retail goods, as households used the suddenly available cash to splurge on consumer electronics, home furnishings, digital groceries, and a range of other products.

Walmart can gather information on cross-category purchase behavior in its nearly 5,000 US retail locations, and Instacart can collect insights from its partnerships with more than 400 grocery chains across 30,000 stores in the US and Canada. Amazon comes nowhere close to that level of visibility into offline purchase activity—at least not yet.

Search ad spending in the US will rise by 5.9% this year, significantly below trend, in the face of the massive disruption to consumer lifestyles. But the pandemic is setting search up for a bigger future.

The pandemic has greatly affected the distribution of digital ad spending across industries. The bottom fell out of the travel industry, as will ad spending in the sector, while retail will consolidate its dominant position in digital ad spend this year.

AT&T’s Xandr revealed that consumer data from the Kroger grocery store chain will be implemented within its addressable TV platform. Verizon Media joined Ampersand, an addressable ad sales consortium founded by Comcast, Charter, and Cox. And AMC Networks and Discovery joined On Addressability, which is yet another addressable initiative formed by Comcast, Charter, and Cox.

eMarketer research analyst Daniel Keyes, principal analyst Andrew Lipsman and senior forecasting analyst Cindy Liu at Insider Intelligence discuss what happened when Amazon eased up for a few months and what will happen when it hits the gas. They then talk about some new Google features, Amazon looking to buy a driverless car company and some maybe permanent grocery store foot traffic trends.

The 2018 holiday season brought big rises in digital sales in Western Europe. The online grocery sector also experienced growth last year. Meanwhile, Amazon and Alibaba have both set their sights on major gains in the region.