Delivery and fulfillment continue to take precedence over in-store experiences

Consumer preference for delivery and fulfillment over in-store experience remains stable

Grocery shoppers

In November 2022, 43% of shoppers said that delivery and fulfillment are the most important service attributes when shopping for groceries, compared to 42% last year.
One-third of grocery shoppers said the same for in-store experiences in November 2022, compared to 32% last year.
As was the case last year, consumers across age groups consistently place more importance on delivery and fulfillment, regardless of whether they have children in their households and whether they live in an urban, suburban, or rural area. The percentage of consumers placing importance on delivery and fulfillment has remained stable across demographics since November 2021, except for a 7% increase among Boomers, from 26% last year to one-third this year (33%).

43%

of consumers say that delivery and fulfillment are most important when shopping for groceries and 33% say the same for in-store experiences

Health and beauty shoppers

Similarly, in November 2022, 41% of all health and beauty shoppers said that delivery and fulfillment are the most important service attributes (compared to 43% in November 2021).

Thirty-five percent of health and beauty shoppers say the same for in-store experiences, compared to 37% last year. As stockouts continue to be an area of concern for consumers, organizations must ensure superior, prompt, and in-time services for delivery and fulfillment-related services.

As we found last year, the difference in importance between delivery and fulfillment-related services and in-store experiences for health and beauty is smaller than for groceries. While delivery and fulfillment are still more important than in-store services among health and beauty shoppers, there have been a few notable changes.

Among Gen Z consumers, 46% place greater importance on delivery services and 44% on in-store services, down from 52% and 51% last year, respectively. Among Millennials, 50% place importance on delivery today, down from 57% in November 2021.

Please refer to the Appendix for a detailed listing of all service attributes within delivery and fulfillment and the in-store experience tested in our research among grocery and health and beauty shoppers.

Consumers’ willingness to pay for fast delivery has increased from last year

Overall, over one-third (36%) of consumers globally say that ordering groceries online with two-hour delivery is important to them and 32% say the same for 10-minute delivery. The importance of fast delivery decreases with age. For example, 47% of Gen Z shoppers say having a delivery option within 2 hours, and 46% within 10 minutes, is important to them, compared with only 22% and 18%, respectively, of Boomer shoppers.

In November 2021 and November 2022, consumers were asked what percentage of their order value they would be willing to pay for certain delivery speeds and services, assuming an average order bill of $30. Across all shoppers, 4.0% was the average that they would be willing to pay for two-hour delivery in November 2022, up from an average of 3.3% among all consumers in November 2021. This trend is consistent across the key demographic segments (see Figure 17).

4.0%

On average, consumers are willing to pay 4.0% of the order value for two-hour grocery delivery

Figure 17. Shopper willingness to pay for two-hour delivery is up from 2021

^{Source: Capgemini Research Institute, Consumer demand survey, October–November 2022, N=8,953 consumers; 635 Gen Z consumers, 2,358 Millennial consumers, 2,678 Gen X consumers, 3,282 Boomer consumers; 2,662 consumers with children in their household, 6,291 consumers without children in their household; 3,653 urban consumers, 3,903 suburban consumers, 1,397 rural consumers; 4,400 consumers satisfied with delivery, 2,739 consumers dissatisfied with delivery; Capgemini Research Institute, What matters to today’s consumer, January 2022.}

In our current research, across all consumers, 4.1% is the average they would be willing to pay for 10-minute delivery (see Figure 18). The increase in the percent of order value consumers are willing to pay for fast delivery might reflect their general acknowledgment of inflationary pressures combined with the desire to absorb these higher prices for a convenient service they highly value, even during this tough economic time.

The key trends by age, location, and delivery satisfaction largely remain the same as last year:

Willingness to pay for fast delivery decreases with age
Urban shoppers are more willing to pay than suburban and rural shoppers
- Rural Gen Z shoppers are willing to pay 5.9% for 10-minute delivery; not too far off from willingness to pay for 10-minute delivery among suburban Gen Z shoppers (6.4%) and urban Gen Z shoppers (6.5%)
Shoppers who are satisfied with existing delivery options provided for the products they buy regularly are more willing to pay than those who say they are dissatisfied with two-hour delivery. For 10-minute delivery, satisfied shoppers are slightly more willing to pay than satisfied shoppers (see Figure 19).

Figure 18. Gen Z shoppers are willing to pay the most for 10-minute delivery

^{Source: Capgemini Research Institute, Consumer demand survey, October–November 2022, N=8,304 consumers; 565 Gen Z consumers, 2,060 Millennial consumers, 2,513 Gen X consumers, 3,166 Boomer consumers; 2,400 consumers with children in their household, 5,904 consumers without children in their household; 3,333 urban consumers, 3,647 suburban consumers, 1,324 rural consumers; 4,030 consumers satisfied with delivery, 2,611 consumers dissatisfied with delivery.}

6.4%

On average, Gen Z consumers are willing to pay 6.4% of the order value for 10-minute grocery delivery

Direct-to-consumer rises in importance while online marketplaces is stable

In the six months preceding November 2021, 41% of consumers ordered directly from brands, which rose to 45% in November 2022. Of these 45%, 21% say they have ordered on a recurring or subscription basis from brands (up from 12% in November 2021). Similar to last year, Gen Z shoppers (74%), followed by Millennials (62%), are the most likely to have ordered directly from brands. Boomers are the least likely to have done so (27%) (see Figure 19). Over half (56%) of consumers in the US and Spain have ordered directly from brands this year, which is the highest among all countries in our survey.

Figure 19. More shoppers across all age groups are ordering directly from brands than last year

^{Source: Capgemini Research Institute, Consumer demand survey, October–November 2022, N=11,300 consumers; 992 Gen Z consumers, 3,264 Millennial consumers, 3,332 Gen X consumers, 3,712 Boomer consumers, Capgemini Research Institute, What matters to today’s consumer, January 2022.}

45%

of consumers have ordered directly from brands over the past six months

By household, shoppers living with children are more likely to have purchased from brands (60%, up from 58% in November 2021) than those without children in their households (38%).
By location, urban shoppers are more likely to have purchased directly from brands (54%, up from 49% in November 2021) compared with suburban (40%) and rural (36%) shoppers.

The percentage of shoppers willing to share data with brands has increased slightly from last year across nearly all age groups (see Figure 20):

Consumption data – In November 2022, nearly half (48%) of all consumers said they are willing to share data with brands on how they consume or use products via surveys, interviews, and/or online forms, up from 45% in November 2021.
Personal data – In November 2022, 43% of all consumers said they are willing to share personal data such as demographic data or product preferences with brands, up from 39% in November 2021.

Figure 20. The percentage of shoppers willing to share data with brands has increased slightly from last year

In our survey, we asked those shoppers who had purchased the majority of their grocery and/or health and beauty products online over the last six months whether they ordered products from an online marketplace, rather than from an individual retailer (for example, from a multi-brand, multi-product website such as Amazon, Alibaba, or Etsy, as opposed to shopping at a dedicated retailer or brand outlet such as Target, Walmart, or Nike).

The vast majority (72%) of these primarily online shoppers have ordered products directly from an online marketplace in the past six months, on either a one-time or subscription basis. This has remained relatively unchanged from 74% in 2021. By age group, the biggest change from 2021 is in the proportion of Gen Z shoppers that ordered from an online marketplace in the last six months; 76% in November 2022, down from of 88% in November 2021 (see Figure 21).

One potential reason for the decline seen in Gen Z might be the age group’s rising interest in social marketplaces. During 2021, nearly 56% of social media users in the US between 18 and 24 years old made at least one purchase via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Line, WeChat, or VK.¹⁹ Social media platforms are becoming new social marketplaces, using native solutions like Instagram Shops, Pinterest Product Pins, and TikTok Shop. These marketplaces might offer a more curated, tailored experience that is more appealing to Gen Z shoppers than traditional online marketplaces.²⁰

Figure 21. Most age groups report a lower proportion buying from an online marketplace in 2022

^{Source: Capgemini Research Institute, Consumer demand survey, October–November 2022, N=516 primarily online consumers; Capgemini Research Institute, What matters to today’s consumer, January 2022.}

_{¹⁹ Influencer Marketing Hub, “Social commerce statistics – users, revenue and usage stats,” October 2022.
²⁰ Influencer Marketing Hub, “Social commerce statistics – users, revenue and usage stats,” October 2022.}