Shoppers who buy groceries both in-store and online spend more than their brick-and-mortar-only counterparts and are driving growth in delivery as the dominant method for order fulfillment, according to data companies tracking the industry.
The competition to win in delivery is largely being driven by industry leaders Amazon and Walmart, which are pioneering methods through subscription-based programs and rapid delivery options, according to McKinsey’s “The State of Grocery North America 2026” report.
The expansion of rapid and same-day delivery is increasingly capturing market share from customers who typically make quick maintenance trips to the physical grocery store, according to the Brick Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey released in mid-June.
McKinsey found that grocery retailers captured an average 31% of the omnichannel shopper’s grocery spend, compared to 26% of shoppers who only shop at physical locations.
“This underscores why e-commerce is not merely a channel but a critical component of a broader omnichannel growth strategy in which grocers serve multiple shopping missions and capture a greater portion of total spend,” McKinsey said.
Delivery edging out pickup
The two primary fulfillment innovations the grocery retail giants are pioneering in rapid delivery include ultra-fast delivery, which is typically fulfilled in a local store and delivered in under an hour, and sub-same-day ship-to-home, which are packed in a warehouse or fulfillment center and delivered on the same day.
The expansion of these capabilities across the country is causing delivery to grow nearly three times faster than pickup as a fulfillment method, according to Brick Meets Click.
Delivery and pickup each controlled just under 50% of the fulfillment business in 2022, but delivery has grown steadily, capturing nearly 65% of delivery in 2025, compared to pickups at roughly 35%, McKinsey noted.
“This trend is reinforced by consumer preferences: 70% of consumers say delivery is their preferred model of online grocery fulfillment, with the key drivers dominated by convenience factors (67% cited time savings as the reason for preferring delivery, 52% scheduling flexibility and 45% ease for larger orders),” McKinsey said.
Walmart and Amazon: Race to the doorstep
Walmart continues to dominate in e-commerce, gaining a greater share of the omnichannel market than its biggest rival, Amazon, and approaching 40% of the total online grocery sales, according to Brick Meets Click.
“Delivery has propelled this growth, specifically via orders received within one hour of checkout,” the report noted.
Walmart turned up the heat on rapid delivery in May, with the announcement that it would begin offering delivery in 30 minutes or less in 33 US markets.
“Customers can shop from more than 100,000 eligible items, including fresh groceries, pantry staples, baby essentials, cold and flu medicine, household supplies, pet food, electronics and prescription delivery,” the company said.
In the first quarter of 2026, Walmart completed millions of deliveries in under 30 minutes in more than 19,000 zip codes across the US, the retailer said.
Meanwhile, Amazon is capturing market share through expansion of its same-day fulfillment network. This initiative began in 2025, when the company rolled out same-day delivery to 2,300 cities, including shoppers in and around Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Miami and New York City.
Faster, better, more
Same-day delivery of groceries is increasingly becoming the norm, according to Brick Meets Click, which noted that same-day delivery made up 80% of all delivery orders and 30% of ship-to-home orders in the first quarter of 2026.
“Given this competitive activity, the big question for traditional grocers – and especially regionals – is how they will accelerate growth and remain relevant while protecting profit margins and the customer experience,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click.
McKinsey warned retailers about the perils of faster delivery at the expense of assortment.
“Most shoppers expect same-day delivery, and a meaningful share expects it within hours,” according to McKinsey.
“However, speed alone is not sufficient. Consumers overwhelmingly prefer a full assortment over ultra-fast delivery with limited choice. This highlights a key constraint: Grocers must balance speed, cost and assortment in designing delivery propositions.”
