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California  + San Diego  + Retail  | 

Essential Needs Grocers Save Retailers’ Bacon

To be sure, the pandemic altered consumer shopping patterns across the board forever and grocery shopping was no exception. Moreover, issues such as safety, availability and convenience were at the top of shoppers’ minds last year, says Craig Killman, JLL executive vice president in San Diego.

“The grocery industry in San Diego, from a convenience perspective, was defined by ‘bigger is better’,” Killman says. “None of the large format grocers, Vons, Ralphs, Stater Bros. and Target with food, ever had seemingly endless lines given the 25 percent capacity limitation levied on them for most of the year.  Alternatively, smaller format specialty grocers with diehard customers, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and Jimbo’s for example, had lines around the block in some cases.”

By the end of April 2020, online sales were capturing 15 percent of total grocery sales, with buy online and pick up instore (BOPIS) and delivery services exploding. Those BIPOS sales doubled year-over-year and delivery sales tripled. Instacart holds the majority of the online grocery market share (28 percent) and ended 2020 with a year-over-year growth of 323 percent, according to Killman.

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About Lisa Brown

Lisa Brown has decades of experience in corporate communications and marketing management with organizations including Coldwell Banker Residential, Grubb & Ellis, Marcus & Millichap, NAIOP, SIOR and ALM. In those positions, she worked in conjunction with chief executive officers and chief marketing officers to create corporate messaging, cohesive branding standards, strategic marketing plans and thought pieces. Brown is a frequent speaker at industry events and an editing adjunct professor for an online course. She has a master’s degree in mass communications from San Jose State University.

  • ◦Economy
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