Grocery shopping, being a highly utilitarian activity, should favour the aspects of control and empowerment inherent in online shopping. However in the UK, which is the global leader in online grocery shopping, the take-up is still low and the discontinuation rate high. A 2006 exploratory study suggested that online grocery shoppers in the UK, despite their enthusiasm for other forms of online shopping, had a curious reluctance to this particular domain. This short paper summarises a study of attitudes and perceptions of the UK online grocery shopper in 2010-11, and compares these results with the 2006 study. While the new study does uncover some changes in the profile of this consumer, such as an increasing number of younger households engaging in online grocery shopping, the ambivalent feelings towards online grocery shopping remain the same - online consumers still seem to yearn for the opportunity to buy their groceries in person.
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