This report looks at the following areas:
- Development trends and factors driving the fresh grocery retail market
- Consumers’ spending on fresh products and the purchase frequency of various fresh products
- Factors influencing consumers’ purchase of fresh grocery
- Offline and online channels consumers use to purchase fresh products
- Consumers’ perceptions of major retailers
Convenience, cost-effectiveness and quality form the three pillars of consumers' fresh grocery decisions. Retailers need to create differentiated channel advantages through diverse business models while building a comprehensive and detailed-oriented pre- and post-sale service framework based on product quality and safety to enhance brand trust.
Laura Liu, Senior Research Analyst – Retail & Home Appliances, China
Market Definitions
Fresh grocery includes fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, meat, seafood, ready meals (including ready meals and semi-finished products), freshly baked goods, ready-to-eat foods and other categories with short shelf lives. Packaged foods and drinks that can be stored for long periods are excluded.
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- Market factors
- Market opportunities: focus on key customer groups, strengthen product selection strategies
- Market opportunities: optimise business formats to target diverse and layered needs
- Market opportunity: build a detail-oriented pre-sale and post-sale service system to enhance the retailer influence
- Trend outlook
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The market
- Industry overview
- Fresh grocery ecommerce is flourishing
- Supermarket platforms adopt a dual-channel approach, leading enterprises grow their sales
- Market factors
- Macroeconomic factors
- Health demand keeps consumption of in-home food buoyant
- Expanding production capacity and falling prices cater to the demand for cost-effectiveness
- Graph 1: price fluctuations for major categories of fresh grocery, 2025
- Policies support the development of rural ecommerce retail, promoting direct procurement
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The consumer
- Summary
- Quality comes first in an era of pragmatic consumption
- Pragmatic consumption and hard discounts are reshaping the median price band of fresh produce
- Graph 2: average monthly household spending on fresh grocery, 2024-25
- Fresh fruit and vegetables are the main high-frequency products
- Graph 3: frequency of purchases in each fresh grocery category, 2025
- Health demand drives women in their 30s to frequently purchase fresh products
- Graph 4: buy fresh grocery once a day or more, by age, in 2025
- Men aged 25-29 and women aged 40-49 are potential key consumers for semi-prepared dishes
- Graph 5: buy semi-prepared dishes at least once a week, by gender and age, 2025
- The premium fresh grocery group prioritises quality, preferring products with high freshness
- Graph 6: buy fresh grocery once a day or more, by average monthly expenditure, in 2025
- Consumers primarily evaluate the quality of fresh produce by its appearance
- Graph 7: factors influencing fresh food purchases, 2025
- High-income groups value tangible quality markers over brand; only transparent traceability earns trust
- Accurately target consumer segments to create differentiated channel advantages
- Diverse offline channels meet the need for convenience, cost-effectiveness and quality
- Graph 8: offline channel repertoire analysis, 2025
- Graph 9: offline purchase channels for fresh grocery, 2025
- Competition in online channels is intense, and users have more diverse choices
- Graph 10: online purchase channels for fresh products, 2025
- Graph 11: offline channel repertoire analysis, 2025
- High-income groups seek a balance between quality and value for money
- Graph 12: offline purchase channels for fresh grocery, by offline purchase channels, 2025
- Graph 13: offline purchase channels for fresh grocery, by monthly household income, 2025
- Paid membership supermarket users trust personal validation, fresh grocery discount store users pursue speed and value for money
- Graph 14: online purchase channels for fresh grocery, by offline purchase channels, 2025
- Food safety is the cornerstone of trust, service guarantees earn favour
- Online-offline retail models help brands win recognition for both products and services
- Graph 15: views of retailer brands, 2025
- Openness and transparency earn trust, while attentive service wins favour
- Market opportunity: build a detail-oriented pre-sale and post-sale service system to enhance the retailer influence
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Appendix – methodology and abbreviations
- Methodology
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