Independent grocery sales climbed 17% in 2020

High consumer demand triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a 17% average comparable sales gain among independent supermarket operators last year, the National Grocers Association (NGA) reported.

Adjusted for elevated levels of inflation, independent grocery industry comp sales still rose 13.5% for the 2020 fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, according to the 2021 Independent Grocers Financial Survey, a joint study released Wednesday by NGA and and financial consulting partner FMS Solutions. That easily surpassed the sector’s 2.5% comp sales growth in 2019.

Driving the upsurge were a boost in transaction size to an average of $31 and a “big upswing” in online orders, NGA said. Customer stockpiling at the onset of the coronavirus crisis set the tone of shoppers making fewer trips to stores but spending more per visit, with independents ringing up 13.3% higher sales in the first half of 2020 alone.