Online Grocery Retailing - Spain - March 2021
Overview
 
Online grocery retailing has been performing strongly in recent years in Spain. The country continues to experience growth as broadband penetration rises and an increasing number of consumers embrace online shopping. Unlike most other sectors, online grocery retailing saw a positive effect from the COVID-19 pandemic, with online sales soaring, new consumers being encouraged to shop online for the first time, and existing online shoppers extending the range of products they are prepared to buy online. The COVID 19-linked boost in online demand is creating untapped opportunities to engage with customers through social media as well as tools like loyalty schemes and delivery passes. 

Online retail sales are also being boosted by changing consumer habits. Mintel’s Global COVID-19 Tracker shows that 42% of Spanish consumers are now doing more shopping online, up some 15 percentage points since mid-April 2020. This will likely bring a longer-term change, supported by a growing number of retailers adopting an online business of their own.

While this provides a positive effect for many grocers it represents a threat to those without a strong ecommerce proposition or the capabilities to cope with the unprecedented rise in online demand. With lockdown pressure piling up, many grocery retailers quickly became overwhelmed and they had to react quickly to strengthen their online platforms and also address initial supply issues. We expect to see many more initiatives from the existing food retailers to enable shoppers to buy food and other products from them online. 

Key issues covered in this Report
●	The impact of COVID-19 on the online grocery retailing sector
●	Current usage of online grocery shopping and how people receive their orders
●	Which companies people shop online for groceries with.
●	The strategies of the major grocery retailers relating to online
●	Opportunities for expansion of the market.

Areas covered in this Report
This Report includes both market and consumer data around the retailing of grocery products online.

Our market size for online grocery includes:

●	Major grocers’ online sales of food and drink and other grocery products
●	Online-only grocers’ sales
●	Specialist food and drink retailers’ online sales
●	Online-based food box and recipe box delivery schemes.

It excludes:

●	Foodservice delivery (eg restaurant or fast food takeaways ordered online)
●	Home delivery of groceries not ordered online.

Consumer research
The reports in this series include extensive consumer research commissioned exclusively for Mintel. The research was carried out online using a sample of 1,000 internet users in Spain.

It is important to bear in mind that our data represents the views of internet-literate shoppers and is therefore a pointer to the way the market will develop.

For our consumer research this year we asked questions on the following topics:

●	Engagement in online grocery shopping
●	Delivery/collection options for online grocery orders
●	The retailers used for online grocery shopping
●	Reasons for not shopping online for groceries.