'A totally new world of retail:’ NIQ unpacks how omnichannel shopping is evolving

“The reality is that it is a totally new world of retail. The traditional models that we have thought about historically — and the way that we have operated forever — are just dissolving into new technologies and into new forms of purchasing the consumers are adopting. So, the ideas of channels are evolving away to be almost focused on consumers exclusively. And the traditional concept of what brands are and the things that matter within brands have evolved significantly as well to be much more about attributes," Juskowiak said.

‘Online purchasing is a much more fragmented space for consumers’

Spurred by COVID-related habits, consumers today shop across more channels than ever before, Juskowiak explained.

Consumers shop at eight different channels on average and through an omnichannel approach of a mix of brick-and-mortar stores and online, according to NIQ Omnishopper data for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 27.​

Most consumers (70.6%) shopped for food through an omnichannel approach, while 29.3% of consumers shop exclusively in-store and 0.1% exclusively online, according to the same NIQ data. Omnichannel shoppers spend 16.1% of their share of wallet online, growing by 1.1 percentage points for the same 52-week period, NIQ reported.

Most consumers (85%) order from a pure-play online retailer for home delivery, and the same amount use a combination of physical store and online options, according to NIQ 2024 consumer outlook data. Additionally, 69% of consumers order delivery from a supermarket or mass merchandise store, and 64% of shoppers order online and pick up at the store — also known as click and collect.

Despite the rise in omnichannel shopping options, including ordering online and pickup in-store, shoppers buy less of their food from direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels now than a year ago. DTC food sales accounted for 3.3% of market share in 2023, down from 4.9% in 2022, according to NIQ e-commerce data.

“We actually know that online purchasing is a much more fragmented space for consumers to be entering. So not only are they changing the platforms in which they are making their purchase decisions, but then also the venues where those decisions are being made are changing dramatically,” Juskowiak said.

Is TikTok the next big e-commerce platform?

Increasingly, consumers are shopping directly within social-media platforms like TikTok, with 55% of purchases directly coming from social media or live stream platforms, according to NIQ 2024 consumer outlook data.    

“We have seen just in the last seven months, TikTok has risen from not having a social commerce platform to becoming ... the number 30 food retailer, and they continue to grow. ... It is a totally new way of shopping, and it creates entirely new mechanisms for consumers to both explore and discover new products,” Juskowiak said.

Influencer and celebrity-owned brands like Mr. Beast’s Feastables and Logan Paul’s PRIME leverage its digital presence on TikTok to grow its businesses, taking share away from incumbent brands, Juskowiak explained. In 2023, Feastables grew dollar sales by 750% and PRIME by 700%, compared to 2022 numbers, according to NIQ Omnisales data.

“They are winning through a marketing and brand and identity and personality platform first, tying into an overarching lifestyle ... and then converting that into product performance at retail. It is a totally different means of going to market, and it offers so many more opportunities for disruption. It also changes the way consumers should be thinking and interacting with brands and potentially changing what their expectations are for brands and how retailers are expecting brands to perform," Juskowiak said.

‘Brands by themselves are not enough’ to win in omnichannel

As consumers shop more online, brands no longer can rely on brand loyalty to win consumers’ dollars and must meet their needs at a reasonable price point, Juskowiak explained.

“[Consumers] are not looking for brands. They are instead looking for relevant benefits, attributes and the things that they need in order to fulfill the needs that exist within their household,” Juskowiak said.

Also, budget-conscious consumers are seeking promotions to stretch their dollars, with more than a quarter of dollar sales (26.1%) made on promotions, and 71.5% of dollar growth associated with promotions, according to NIQ data. 

“Brands by themselves are not enough because one, people are not thinking in terms of brands. It is not enough if they know your brand, but they cannot find you. You need to be findable. But then also you need to be delivering against the right price points and the right value propositions to make that transaction occur,” Juskowiak said.