Products

EMARKETER delivers leading-edge research to clients in a variety of forms, including full-length reports and data visualizations to equip you with actionable takeaways for better business decisions.
PRO+
New data sets, deeper insights, and flexible data visualizations.
Learn More
Reports
In-depth analysis, benchmarks and shorter spotlights on digital trends.
Learn More
Forecasts
Interactive projections with 10k+ metrics on market trends, & consumer behavior.
Learn More
Charts
Proprietary data and over 3,000 third-party sources about the most important topics.
Learn More
Industry KPIs
Industry benchmarks for the most important KPIs in digital marketing, advertising, retail and ecommerce.
Learn More
Briefings
Client-only email newsletters with analysis and takeaways from the daily news.
Learn More
Analyst Access Program
Exclusive time with the thought leaders who craft our research.
Learn More

About EMARKETER

Our goal is to unlock digital opportunities for our clients with the world’s most trusted forecasts, analysis, and benchmarks. Spanning five core coverage areas and dozens of industries, our research on digital transformation is exhaustive.
Our Story
Learn more about our mission and how EMARKETER came to be.
Learn More
Methodology
Rigorous proprietary data vetting strips biases and produces superior insights.
Learn More
Our People
Take a look into our corporate culture and view our open roles.
Join the Team
Contact Us
Speak to a member of our team to learn more about EMARKETER.
Contact Us
Newsroom
See our latest press releases, news articles or download our press kit.
Learn More
Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities
Reach an engaged audience of decision-makers.
Learn More
Events
Browse our upcoming and past events, recent podcasts, and other featured resources.
Learn More
Podcasts
Tune in to EMARKETER's daily, weekly, and monthly podcasts.
Learn More

Walmart Bets on Consumers' Appetite for Meal Kits

The latest retail entry into an increasingly crowded space

Walmart is tossing its hat into the meal kit delivery game, but will it be enough to lure shoppers to its stores?

The big-box retailer announced this week that it will offer a selection of meal kits in around 250 stores, with a push to expand into 2,000 by the end of 2018. Priced between $8 and $15 for two portions, the meals include dishes like sweet chili chicken stir-fry and steak Dijon with potatoes and asparagus.

These new products are on Walmart.com, but prices aren't listed and are clearly marked "In-store purchase only." Ostensibly, though, the meal kits will eventually be available digitally and become part of the online grocery pickup program, as was reported in a press release. 

This move could be seen as a bid to compete with Amazon since the online retailer launched meal kits last summer through Amazon Fresh and is also selling them at its cashierless Amazon Go stores. But it's a trend that the grocery industry as a whole is adopting since it's not a big leap from rotisserie chickens and other ready-to-eat items to packaging ingredients for specific recipes. Albertsons acquired meal kit company Plated outright last year, Kroger has developed an in-house brand of meal kits called Prep + Pared and Costco introduced "True Chef Meal Kits" in January 2018. 

Grocers are gung-ho, though it's fair to say that so far online meal kits and prepared foods have appealed to a minority of US consumers:

  • 6% of US internet users said they would use an online meal kit delivery service in 2018. (IRI, January 2018)
  • 9.2% of US internet users had bought perishable prepared food from a grocer digitally in the past 30 days. (Bizrate Insights, February 2018)
  • 9% of US digital buyers said they had ever bought a meal kit digitally; 5% had done so in the past three months. (Nielsen, September 2017)

When it comes to meal kit subscriptions specifically, younger generations do have higher adoption rates, but a large portion of millennials still remain uninterested. A survey released by Brandtrust in February 2018 showed US internet users ages 20 to 29 were more than twice as likely to have purchased meal kit subscriptions than those ages 30 to 39, but adoption was very low across the board.

This subscription-free, omnichannel approach that Walmart and other retailers are taking might be successful, whereas meal kit companies like Blue Apron have only seen so-so uptake. US consumers enjoy the convenience of not cooking from scratch, but they don't always like the commitment of being locked into one service.