Uncommitted customers dominate the grocery landscape, making up 93% of all shoppers in the category. 

Despite what the data shows, many retailers underestimate the scope of the problem. When Upside surveyed thousands of retailers at the beginning of this year, 53% of grocers said they don’t believe a meaningful portion of their customers are uncommitted.

What’s clear, though, is that winning more wallet share from these customers matters now more than ever. If grocers got their uncommitted customers to visit just one more time each month, it could represent an 84% increase in annual revenue.

Last week, I presented new research on the uncommitted customer at GroceryTech, a gathering of forward-thinking decision-makers from across the industry. Read on for highlights or, for a deeper dive, take a look at Upside’s new report, Winning the Uncommitted Customer. 

Digging into digital behavior

Uncommitted grocery customers are those who shop less than once per week at a given store. They tend to share three defining traits:

• Value-seeking
• Digital
• Opportunistic

In this blog, we’re focusing on their digital behavior — and what it means for grocers trying to build loyalty.

Uncommitted customers span all ages, income levels, and household types — but there are a few demographic indicators that tend to point towards digital savviness, which correlates with more opportunistic, less loyal shopping patterns.

Adoption of digital grocery shopping behavior

First, we see a positive correlation between digital behavior and income level. For every $10,000 increase in household income, digital grocery adoption increases by one percentage point. 

Second, digital grocery adoption peaks with Millennials between the ages of 35 and 44. It makes sense — individuals in this age group are often busy balancing work and children. 

Looking ahead, if current adoption rates continue, digital grocery use will grow 25% in the next decade — that’s 2.2% annual growth just from demographic shifts.

What would that ultimately mean? We see that digital shoppers are more engaged but less loyal. This primarily shows up in two ways:

Digital shoppers use more loyalty programs and promotions 

When we asked about willingness to change behavior based on ongoing loyalty, rewards, or membership programs, the share of digitally-engaged customers who agreed was nine percentage points higher than that of in-person shoppers.

Same goes for one-time promotions — the share of digital shoppers willing to act upon a one-time offer was 11 percentage points higher than their counterparts.

Digital shoppers are more likely to compare prices 

When we asked customers how often they check prices across stores in a category, digital grocery shoppers were more likely to say they “often” or “always” compare prices than in-person shoppers (48% to 40%, an eight-point difference).

For these reasons, digital shoppers represent opportunity — retailers can more easily reach digital shoppers, but retaining them takes work.

Overcoming the first-month hurdle

Because uncommitted customers represent the vast majority of the addressable grocery market, winning more of their visits can transform a grocery business. Recall that just one additional monthly visit from uncommitted customers could earn grocers 84% more annual revenue. 

To capture that opportunity, grocers need strategies that reach uncommitted customers in the right moments — and guide them toward repeat behavior.

Meet shoppers where they are

So, how can retailers get uncommitted customers to stick around longer? It starts with meeting digital customers where they are — which usually means on-the-go. Invest in the online channels they frequent, provide high-quality ready-to-eat meals, and support mobile-friendly engagement. 

Turn one-time shoppers into regulars

More importantly, though, improving retention starts with building habits early on in the relationship, prioritizing the conversion from the first to the second visit. Our new research shows just how critical that time period is — half of new grocery customers churn after just their first month at a retailer. But on the other hand, if a customer makes two or more visits, the likelihood that they stick around increases significantly. 

Go beyond loyalty 

One way to support habit formation with grocery shoppers is to pair your loyalty program with Upside’s personalized cash-back promotions. Combining habit-building incentives is key, because retention increases as grocery cardholders visit more often. It shows in the data — together at the cardholder level, loyalty and Upside improve retention by 60%.

Overlooking the uncommitted shopper means you’re leaving money on the table. But with the right strategies, these shoppers can become a retailer’s most powerful growth lever.

Loyalty and Upside: Better together

Get in touch with our team of grocery experts to see how Upside can win more visits from uncommitted customers.