Shoppers turn to Tesco online

A quarter of Sainsbury's shoppers, and one-sixth of Asda shoppers are moving to Tesco's online store according to new data from research group Evolution Insights, who quizzed 1,002 shoppers for its ‘Online Food & Grocery: The Shopper Perspective’ report.

According to James Johnson, lead analyst at Evolution Insights, only 2% of UK grocery shoppers shop exclusively online, despite online now accounting for 10.5% of all retail sales.

"'Multi-channel' is a key feature in online grocery, raising the question of store loyalty between online and offline shopping. Our research shows that not only are Tesco shoppers the most loyal when it comes to online grocery shopping (86% who shop at Tesco and also shop online use Tesco.com), but Tesco has also managed to attract a significant proportion of shoppers from its competitors."

Evolution last month published research that suggested offers were underused in driving users of social media to buy.

Tesco.com also attracts the largest number of online shoppers, with 55% of the market using the service 'most regularly'.

Johnson says value and promotions were the: "Primary reasons for store choice".

However, Johnson says there is a notable threat for Morrisons, as it does not yet have an online shop, because 37% of Morrisons shoppers do shop online, 53% using Tesco.com.

"Online grocery shoppers quickly establish familiarity and routine with retailers' online grocery websites. We expect Morrisons to struggle at launch to regain the loyalty of its shoppers that have already established their online grocery with a different retailer," he said.

A Morrisons spokesman said the store was: "looking into" online shopping and decisions were expected later this year. The grocer today launched its 'Price Crunch' promotion, which it claims is its biggest yet discounting offer.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk