Leading Brands in the U.S. Grocery Stores Category: Q2 2024 Analysis

Introduction

In the bustling U.S. grocery sector, digital presence is paramount. This analysis covers the performance of leading grocery brands—Kroger, Whole Foods Market, and Safeway—across their websites and apps during Q2 2024. Sensor Tower's unique data capabilities provide comprehensive insights into monthly audience trends, app engagement, and advertising strategies.

Kroger

Kroger is renowned for its extensive grocery offerings and robust digital presence via its website, kroger.com, and the Kroger app.

• Audience Trends: The website maintained a stable monthly true audience above 13M throughout the quarter. While web-only visitors showed a slight decline, the monthly app-only audience remained strong, hinting at a growing mobile preference.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users decreased slightly from 8.5M in Q1 to under 7.9M by June, indicating a potential shift in user engagement patterns.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Kroger's monthly advertising spend varied, peaking at over $12M in January and stabilizing around $8M by June. The primary channels included Facebook and OTT (Over-the-top), delivering substantial impressions.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market, known for its organic and high-quality products, leverages its website, wholefoodsmarket.com, and the Whole Foods Market app to engage users.

• Audience Trends: The website saw a consistent monthly true audience, with a slight dip in June to around 5.6M. The monthly app-only visitors consistently surpassed web-only users, emphasizing the app's dominance.

• App Engagement: The app maintained nearly 2.7M monthly active users in Q1, dropping to 2.5M by June, reflecting stable yet slightly declining engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Whole Foods increased its monthly ad spend from approximately $4.7M in January to over $6.5M in June, with OTT being a significant channel, driving over 137M impressions in June.

Safeway

Safeway's digital strategy includes its website, safeway.com, and the Safeway Deals & Delivery app.

• Audience Trends: The website's monthly true audience peaked in May at 7.4M, with monthly app-only visitors consistently leading, highlighting the app's significance.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users increased from around 4.1M in January to over 4.4M by June, indicating a positive trend in user engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Safeway's monthly ad spend remained steady, slightly fluctuating around $1.6M to $2.2M. Facebook and Instagram were key channels, with strong impressions throughout the quarter.

Conclusion

The digital strategies of Kroger, Whole Foods Market, and Safeway reveal distinct trends in audience engagement and advertising. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data offerings, such as Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics, are crucial for understanding these cross-platform dynamics, offering unparalleled insights into the grocery store category. These insights empower decision-makers to strategically navigate the evolving digital landscape.