One of the first major changes to the Australian way of life due to Covid-19 was the introduction of stay-at-home rules across the country. The restrictions triggered unprecedented consumer behaviour in supermarkets with panic buying of some grocery items, including toilet paper and long-life pantry goods. With people unable or unwilling to leave their homes, the take up of food delivery services began to climb, and it was Victorians leading the charge.
Based on 1.4 million transactions collected by Fonto between January 2020 and August 2021, a sharp increase in home delivery of food in April 2020 was the first of similar spikes over the 18-month period. While food delivery transactions dropped slightly between lockdown periods, activity in Victoria, in and out of lockdown, remained significantly higher than pre-Covid levels. This behaviour is strongly correlated with more frequent and longer stay-at-home restrictions. The extended lockdown in NSW from July 2021 saw the single strongest increase in food delivery in that state over the period tracked.
While the use of food delivery services remained high in both NSW and Victoria, the initial panic buying at supermarkets eased off after the first lockdown with transactions on groceries remaining steady from April 2020 onwards.
Fonto will continue to track grocery and food delivery transactions across its 40,000-strong member base to understand how consumers are spending in 2022 and beyond, and add consumer research for richer insights.
