State of Grocery Order Ahead 2023

As we charge forward into 2024, the FoodStorm team is reviewing the state of order ahead for 2023 with our unique view into the U.S. grocery industry. What exactly is “order ahead”? In this context “order ahead” is any service line offered by a grocer related to prepared foods that are ordered ahead of time. That order lead time can be five minutes, such as with made-to-order sandwiches, or several weeks, such as with holiday catering.

A current trend within the grocery food service industry is that customer demand for prepared foods is growing and grocers are capitalizing. Customers are seeing their local grocer as a convenient, cost-effective and healthy option for prepared foods versus fast food or restaurant takeaway. The 2023 Supermarket News Fresh Food Trends Survey found that 65% of grocery retailer survey respondents will increase their assortment of prepared foods over the next 12 months. 

FoodStorm’s annual State of Catering Report has subsequently broadened its scope to go beyond just catering to accommodate this expanded definition in grocery food service. Our annual report will now include insights into all the prepared food use cases our grocery retailers are serving, including:

• Everyday catering
• Holiday catering
• Made-to-order meals
• Deli pre-orders
• Custom cakes
• And more

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With that, FoodStorm’s 2023 State of Grocery Order Ahead Report uncovered many interesting trends and findings. Key highlights include: 

• Roughly 56% of orders being placed online, showing the ongoing importance of both online and in-store ordering channels for grocers and their customers.
• A growing demand for Pickup orders versus 2022, increasing from 26% to 35% of orders, showing how In-Store Fulfillment continues to gain importance.
• A surprising shift from almost equal Desktop versus Mobile online orders in 2022 to 60% and 40% respectively.
• Evidence that expanding order ahead across in-store counters is a top priority for FoodStorm’s grocery retailers with 95% and 86% utilizing Weighted Items (i.e. deli items) and Configurable Items (i.e. custom sandwiches or cakes) functionality, respectively.

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Continue reading our entire report findings in the infographic below. And if you would like to grow your grocery food service business, contact us today to book a demo.

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‍Methodology: This data was collected by FoodStorm between January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.

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