Grocery ecommerce is driving the food industry forward. Online grocery sales accounted for almost three-quarters of total US grocery growth in 2025, according to the Food Industry Association.
That growth isn’t just monetary. Founders like Jing Gao of Fly By Jing are using food to change cultural perception and ignite interest in oft-lost culinary traditions.
“Food became the vehicle for reconnecting with my roots and figuring out my identity,” writes Jing, who was born in China but grew up living in Europe and Canada.
Ahead, compare grocery business models for your online store, find insights from other brands in the grocery space, and get tips to improve customer loyalty and grow your business.
What is grocery ecommerce?
Grocery ecommerce is when companies sell food items online. This includes grocery items, subscription boxes, nutrition programs, specialty foods, and buy online, pickup in-store models.
How the grocery ecommerce market has grown
Industry firms indicate the online grocery market continues to move forward.
Online grocery sales in the US jumped 21.5% year over year in July 2026, according to Brick Meets Click, while order frequency among active monthly users hit more than three orders per month for the first time in mid-2026. The Food Industry Association also estimates online grocery sales in the US will reach $452 billion by 2028.
Online grocery vs. traditional retail
Online grocery focuses on a primarily online shopping experience, while retail is the traditional in-person supermarket model. Many households buy food using a blend of both.
“Omnichannel shopping is now the norm for most households,” Steve Markenson, vice president, research and insights for the Food Industry Association, said in an April 2026 news release. “Nearly 94% of grocery shoppers in 2025 purchased both online and in-store.”
Grocery ecommerce business models
Grocery ecommerce solutions include fulfillment options like delivery-first, click and collect, subscription boxes and recurring grocery orders, and niche and specialty grocery.
Delivery-first
According to McKinsey & Company’s State of Grocery North America 2026 report, delivery represents nearly two-thirds of ecommerce grocery orders.
“Delivery is emerging as the preferred option for online shoppers, reflecting a shift toward convenience,” writes McKinsey & Company.
Delivery methods may vary, particularly when it comes to perishable items. There’s same-day delivery, next-day delivery, or conventional multiday delivery options.
Click and collect
A click-and-collect model is where customers place an order online, then pick up their food by visiting the store or through curbside pickup. This model helps grocery retailers serve customers without long in-person wait times.
Quebec bagel shop Bagels on Greene offers click-and-collect for their customers.
“We set up the [online] store as a pick-and-pack setup for our retail store,” says owner Amit Mahtani in a Shopify Masters interview. “We treated it as an ecommerce platform, not as a restaurant ordering platform. There’s no customization when you go there.”
Shopify stores that use the Shopify POS can easily support pickup in-store options.
Subscription boxes and recurring grocery orders
Grocery subscription boxes deliver a curated assortment of foods, like Japanese snack brand Bokksu, or fresh goods via meal kits, nutrition programs, and groceries.
For example, Odd Bunch sells perfectly edible misshapen produce destined for landfills on a subscription model that delivers weekly.
Niche and specialty groceries
Niche and specialty grocery brands sell unique items not produced or sold en masse. For example, Brightland makes specialty California olive oil, vinegars, and honeys in beautifully designed bottles.
Challenges of selling groceries online
Selling food online comes with challenges that other industries don’t face. Keeping perishables fresh, ensuring food safety, and managing large SKU catalogs are among the top concerns.
Managing perishables and cold chain logistics
The order fulfillment and management of perishables, as well as temperature-controlled shipping, can be complex and expensive.
Cold chain logistics requires continuous temperature management, tracking shipment and temperature data, temperature compliance verification, and reliable partners.
Handling large SKU catalogs and inventory
The more grocery items you sell, the larger your SKU catalog will be, which can get overwhelming operationally. That was the case when Odd Bunch let early customers customize their own boxes.
“We got to 200, we got to 250, we got to 300 [SKUs], and it was just madness,” says Founder Divy Ojha in a Shopify Masters interview.
If you manage multiple stores, this can be even more difficult.
Building customer trust without in-person experience
Gaining the support and trust of your target audience without showing up on the shelves of their local supermarkets takes more product education, brand-building, and value propositions. But the results can be impactful, as Fly By Jing found out when customers started defending the brand from naysayers.
“That’s what happens when your mission and values are so clear that your customers can articulate them for you. You don’t have to fight every battle on your own,” writes founder Jing.
Meeting food safety and labeling requirements
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates food safety and labeling in the US. Consult the FDA’s Nutrition, Food Labeling, and Critical Foods guide for information. Find food safety information at FoodSafety.gov and on the FDA’s website.
If you’re not making food in a commercial kitchen or manufacturing facility, there are different rules and regulations to follow. For example, permitted consumer packaged goods may require a cottage food license. Review cottage food laws by state.
If you have questions or concerns, consult your local government agency or a food lawyer for help.
“Food inspectors offer you some pretty sage and, frankly, free advice on how to make sure you're making a good and reasonable product,” says Food Lawyer Glenford Jameson.
This type of consultation changed the product line for pistachio spread brand Pistakio.
“We took this community college class to learn how to actually make our product FDA-safe, because before that we were making it in a dorm room. The whole plan was to launch a pistachio mayo. Nine weeks into a 10-week course, a food scientist came in and told us we needed to scrap it, and it was never going to work unless we spent $100,000 on a co-packer run for a product we didn’t even know would sell. So we completely pivoted [to making a sweet spread],” writes Cofounder Francine.
Recommended reading: How to Sell Food Online: Complete Startup Guide
How to start a grocery ecommerce store on Shopify
Start an online store on Shopify in three steps:
- Set up your online storefront and product catalog
- Configure local delivery zones and pickup options
- Set up subscriptions for repeat grocery orders
Set up your online storefront and product catalog
Sign up for a Shopify free trial. Select your theme, add branding, and set up your product catalog.
Configure local delivery zones and pickup options
Brick-and-mortar stores will need to establish delivery zones and pickup options for customers.
Set up subscriptions for repeat grocery orders
Allow customers to subscribe to their staples, like pet food, pantry necessities, and produce. Consider apps like Shopify Subscriptions, Appstle, and Seal Subscriptions.
How Bagels on Greene launched online overnight
After the pandemic led to the shut down of Bagels on Greene’s catering business, owner Amit saw an opportunity to establish the brand online. A friend who was working on digital marketing at the time offered to set up a Shopify store for the company.
“Literally within one night he had 90% of my products online” says Amit. “He got everything up and running for me within, like, four or five hours.”
Now, Bagels on Greene is back in the catering space and has a Shopify store where shoppers can place orders for pickup or delivery.
How to market your online grocery store
Marketing strategies for grocery ecommerce stores include:
- SEO and local search for grocery discovery
- Social media and community-driven growth
- Email and loyalty programs for repeat buyers
SEO and local search for grocery discovery
Rio SEO’s 2025 Local Search Consumer Behavior Study found 84% of shoppers search online daily for local businesses. Boost your grocery retail presence online with these local SEO tactics:
- Optimize your Google Business Profile and connect your Shopify store to Google.
- Use local keywords in title tags.
- Make sure the name, address, and phone number used matches your Google Business profile.
- Engage with reviews.
- Build local links to your online store (chamber of commerce websites, local businesses, etc.).
- Build location pages for any areas where you have a retail store.
Also consider adding a store locator to your website. Fly By Jing has a store locator that helps shoppers find their products at retail stores near them and see what’s currently in stock.
Social media and community-driven growth
Engage shoppers and drive sales with a strong social media presence. Develop a social media marketing strategy to guide how you plan to operate on each platform, and set growth goals and success metrics.
Community-led growth uses active communities to drive product decisions, lend feedback, and voice suggestions. To implement a community-led growth strategy, start by engaging with customers on social media. For example, start a Facebook group where community members can chat with one another. If your budget allows, throw community events.
Email and loyalty programs for repeat buyers
Use loyalty programs to build long-term relationships and increase spending and customer retention. For example, Curious Elixirs offers a loyalty program where members can get credit for referrals and earn points for actions like joining the program and following the brand on social media that can be redeemed for discounts.
Email marketing is an owned media channel, which means that you as a brand control how and when you use it to speak to customers.
“Email is so powerful,” writes Brightland Founder Aishwarya Iyer. “I know brands that tell long, romantic, beautiful stories, and others that are just educating, educating, educating. We try to do a mix. I’ll send notes about the change in seasons, or how I’m thinking about the year ahead, and our customers respond to it. It’s the one thing that can’t get taken away from you.”
Come up with an email marketing strategy that blends performance with value. Always include a clear call to action (CTA), keep it short, and optimize for mobile. Stay compliant with email marketing laws and regulations, like GDPR and the CAN-SPAM Act.
Grocery ecommerce tips to grow revenue
Grow the revenue of your grocery ecommerce store with a thoughtful, strategic approach beyond simply hard work.
“It’s about working on the right things. You need a really clear pulse on what you’re going after, where you can say, ‘I know the priorities so clearly,’” writes Aishwarya.
Optimize your product pages
Optimize your product pages to improve conversions and shopper trust. Great product pages have a clear CTA, compelling product photos, images of product variants, detailed product descriptions, consistent branding, social proof, value propositions, and trust signals.
For example, Bold Bean Co’s product purchase pages blend strong product photography with concise product differentiators. Shoppers can choose between a one-time purchase or subscription, and CTAs are clear.
Upsell and bundle
Use techniques like upselling, cross-selling, and bundling to increase average order value. Upselling encourages shoppers to upgrade to a more expensive product. Cross-selling offers items that complement a purchase. Bundling offers a discount for adding a specific number of products or certain combinations of products to a cart.
Bold Bean Co, for example, offer a discount if customers purchase on a subscription basis instead of a one-time purchase.
Use subscription data
According to the Food Industry Association, American households spend an average of $169 per week on groceries. Use subscription analytics to evaluate customer habits, reduce churn, forecast demand, and make sure your brand captures part of that weekly consumer spend.
Track the number of subscribers, subscriber growth, customer satisfaction, monthly recurring revenue, churn rate, customer retention rate, customer lifetime value, customer acquisition cost, gross merchandise value, cancellations and paused subscriptions, reactivation rate, and which products are performing best on a subscription model.
Examine the performance of different products across subscriptions, one-time purchases, and retail.
“If something is a bestseller on the retail side, it’s not necessarily going to be a bestseller online,” says Bagels on Greene Owner Amit, “So make sure you track them individually.”
Grocery ecommerce FAQ
What are the top ecommerce platforms for grocery?
Some of the top grocery ecommerce platforms are Shopify, My Cloud Grocer, and Wave Grocery.
Will grocery become the largest ecommerce category in 2026?
Grocery is among the largest ecommerce categories, and the Food Industry Association reports online sales were responsible for nearly 75% of US grocery dollar growth in 2025. Online sales are projected to hit $452 billion by 2028.
How do I sell perishable food online?
Selling perishable food online has different requirements based on what you’re selling and the temperature it needs to maintain in order to remain safe for consumption.
Is grocery ecommerce profitable?
Grocery ecommerce can be a profitable industry, but profitability hinges on many different factors, like how you structure your business, what you sell, and your fulfillment method.
What is click and collect in grocery ecommerce?
Click and collect in grocery ecommerce is when a customer puts in an order online or via an app and travels to the shop to pick it up.
