E-commerce user penetration for food and drink in the UK 2019-2024
The food and drink market in the United Kingdom saw its e-commerce user penetration rate significantly increase after December 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic led more consumers to purchase online. That month, the share of the UK population buying food and drinks online was approximately 13 percent. By December 2020, that figure had increased nine percentage points. As of March 2024, around a fifth of the UK population purchased food and drinks online.
Online food delivery market in the UK
With an estimated 48 billion U.S. dollars in revenues, the United Kingdom ranked third among the leading online food delivery markets worldwide in 2024. China held the top spot, with a market size of nearly 450 billion dollars, followed by the United States with an estimated 350 billion U.S. dollars. In terms of retailers, Tesco was the uncontested market leader, generating more than four billion U.S. dollars in e-commerce net sales in the UK in 2023.
Fresh commerce
Order fulfillment for fresh food and beverages may be the most challenging aspect of online food delivery for both retailers and consumers alike. It is of utmost importance for fresh fruits and vegetables to arrive at customers' doorstep without being damaged or without going bad on the way. In 2022, approximately 52 percent of UK consumers reported purchasing fresh food and beverages online, making the United Kingdom the only European market with such a high user adoption of fresh e-commerce. Additionally, around 36 percent of UK shoppers reported ordering fresh food online at least once a week, indicating that this practice is not only widely adopted in the country, but it is also done on a very frequent basis.
