Not Every Grocery Tech Feature Is Catching On – Image for illustrative purposes only (Image credits: Unsplash)
Grocery retailers have poured resources into digital platforms over the past decade, expecting broad adoption across their customer base. Yet recent data shows shoppers remain selective, embracing tools that deliver clear savings or convenience while bypassing others. This pattern leaves operators with strong returns on some investments and lingering questions about others.
Smartphones Anchor Daily Shopping Routines
Nearly every grocery shopper now carries a smartphone into the store, and most put it to immediate practical use. They scan for digital coupons, review weekly specials, and compare prices across nearby locations. Additional common tasks include pulling up recipes, reading product reviews, locating items on shelves, scanning QR codes, and checking nutrition details. These habits reflect a straightforward preference for features that reduce cost or effort right away. Retailers who built apps around these core needs see steady engagement. Features that stray further from immediate pain points draw far less consistent attention.
Online Grocery Sales Post Strong Gains
E-grocery volumes hit a record $12.7 billion in December 2025, marking a 32 percent jump from the prior year. Shoppers placed an average of 2.9 orders that month, with more than half completing three or more. Online channels now represent 19 percent of weekly grocery spending, the highest share since the pandemic peak in 2020. Projections show continued expansion at an 8.9 percent compound annual rate through 2029. That pace far outstrips the 1.7 percent growth expected for traditional in-store sales. By the end of the decade, online grocery is forecast to account for 17 percent of total U.S. spending in the category.
Most Shoppers Blend In-Store and Digital Channels
In-store purchases still make up roughly 80 percent of grocery sales today. Even so, more than 90 percent of shoppers now buy groceries both in stores and online. Industry forecasts from FMI and NIQ project online grocery will reach $452 billion, or 25.5 percent of total grocery-related sales, by 2028. This hybrid reality means retailers must maintain strong performance across both physical and digital touchpoints. Shoppers move fluidly between the two depending on the occasion. Purely digital experiences remain the exception rather than the rule for the majority of households.
Advanced Tools Face Slower Uptake
Features such as AI shopping assistants, smart carts, and scan-and-go systems show promise yet trail behind simpler options. Sixty-eight percent of shoppers have tried AI-enabled tools at some point, and 53 percent have used them for food-related tasks like recipes or meal planning. Only 26 percent count as regular users. Shoppers gravitate toward tools that cut friction, lower costs, or build confidence in their choices. They apply the same standard to new technology as they do to any other part of the shopping experience. Retailers evaluating future investments now weigh frequency of use and measurable value more carefully than before. – Digital coupons and price checks deliver immediate savings and see high repeat use.
– Pickup and delivery options save time when fees remain reasonable.
– AI assistants and smart carts require extra steps that many shoppers skip.
– Social commerce features have yet to match the reliability of established loyalty programs. The pattern points to disciplined consumer behavior rather than resistance to technology itself. Retailers who align new features tightly with proven shopper priorities stand the best chance of sustained returns. Those that do not risk continued selective adoption.
