US online purchases of avocados up by 334% in three years

A study in the US on consumer behaviour when purchasing avocados has been conducted by the Hass Avocado Board (HAB) to shed light on avocado shopper segmentation and highlight key purchase metrics of buyer groups within each retail channel. While the majority of avocado purchases took place in the grocery store channel in 2020, grocery lost dollar share to the internet and large format channels since 2017. The online channel was the fastest growing channel for avocado shoppers between 2017 and 2020, with avocado purchases up by 334% over the period. Since 2017, the online channel has more than doubled its share of avocado purchases, driven by an 11% increase in annual household spend and a 30% increase in the number of avocado purchase trips.

Club Stores have the second highest share of avocado purchases (14%) and the second highest growth rate between 2017 and 2020 (+26%). Club store purchases accounted for an additional $55.6 million for the category, making it the largest contributor of incremental purchases over the 3-year period.

A key finding of a companion study, Rethinking Retail: Avocado Shopper Segmentation, found that the Ultra Shopper segment represents 8% of shoppers, but 35% of avocado purchase dollars in 2020. The Ultra segment holds the largest share of avocado purchases in every channel. Members of this segment are also more likely to make repeat purchases, make more purchase trips per year, and have the highest avocado spend per trip of any other segment across all channels.