A small but significant share of consumers steer clear of grocers’ physical stores completely, turning to their smart devices to purchase the foods and beverages they need, PYMNTS Intelligence reveals. By the Numbers. For the recent report “Consumer Interest in an Everyday App,” a PYMNTS and PayPal collaboration, we surveyed more than 2,200 U.S. consumers to understand how they use apps to meet their shopping and financial needs, among other matters. According to the results, 14% of consumers reported that, in the previous 30 days, they had exclusively purchased groceries using internet-connected devices. Plus, an additional 39% purchased groceries both by using connected devices and via more traditional means

Membership chains such as BJ’s Wholesale Club are seeing the gains they made at the highest points of grocery inflation hold strong, even as price increases moderate.BJ’s, for its part, a membership warehouse club chain with 238 locations across 19 states, discussed this trend on a call with analysts Tuesday (Aug. 22) discussing its second-quarter 2023 earnings results.Bob Eddy, the chain’s chairman and CEO, shared that the company’s gains in grocery have continued even as year-over-year food-at-home inflation has slowed, and in some categories even decreased.“[We saw] sales growth across each of our income cohorts driven by increases in trips and spend per member,” he said on the call. “We were pleased with this result, considering continued grocery disinflation. … Our grocery and consumables business continues to be very strong.”Eddy cited Circana research showing that the company has gained market share “once again,” seeing sales increase “nearly two times faster than our key competition” in the areas in which the wholesaler has a presence.Similarly, on Walmart’s most recent earnings call Thursday (Aug. 17), the retail giant shared that comparable sales for its membership-only warehouse chain subsidiary Sam’s Club were up 5.5%, and the chain saw membership growth in the mid-single digits.“Talking about the member health, we’ve seen historic growth in our membership base over the last few years, and we continue to see growth in absolute member numbers,” Sam’s Club President and CEO Kathryn McLay told analysts on the call. “… We feel strong about the health of our membership and the growth that we’ve seen.”Additionally, Costco, a warehouse club chain with more than 850 locations around the world, shared in its monthly sales report for July that comparable sales have held strong relative to the same four-week period last year, with comparable sales up 2.5%