Spanish Food E-Commerce Market Set To Recover In 2025

After two years of decline, online grocery shopping is projected to grow. Mixed-channel shoppers (those using both online and physical channels) are expected to increase by 7.1 percentage points, while pure online shoppers will grow by 1.2 points, to reach 6% of total shoppers.

This rebound signals a shift away from the savings-driven shopping habits seen during the recent inflationary period, suggesting that these behaviours were temporary.

Mixed-channel shoppers exhibited the highest spending growth, averaging €7,152 per year per household (up by 51%) and €2,080 per person (up by 40%), according to the study.

Offline shopping, which perceives physical stores as the best for price comparisons, saw more moderate spending growth, with spending per visit decreasing by 1%, to approximately €63.

Convenience and lack of time emerged as the primary drivers for shifting to the online channel for groceries, outweighing factors like price and product variety – cited by only 9% of those polled.

Other Findings

The types of products most frequently purchased online are non-perishable and standardised items, such as personal-hygiene goods, household cleaning supplies, and packaged foods.

Fresh products, however, face persistent challenges due to sensory limitations, as customers often prefer to see and touch these items before buying. Despite this, online sales of both fresh and frozen products are showing positive growth.

The report from the association of supermarkets and food wholesalers also highlights a potential diet-related impact of online shopping, with online-only users perceiving a limited product assortment, compared to mixed-channel shoppers.