UNITED STATES - AmazonFresh and Instacart owe their rise in part to the emergence of a still new segment of the retail market: online grocery. Analysts at Packaged Facts have come out with a report claiming this industry is only on its way up and will quadruple in size between now and 2019, rising to a staggering $100 billion.

Tim Kenney, President of MyWebGrocer, a provider of Web and digital marketing services for retailers, explained that he sees most of this growth coming from in-store pickup programs, like the one which Whole Foods offers through Instacart or the one which Kroger is currently testing in Cincinnati. In fact, according to research done by MyWebGrocer, consumers prefer in-store-pickup to home delivery by a margin of 3:1. Shoppers clearly still value something fundamental about the in-store experience. The role home delivery is beginning to play cannot be ignored, however, but given the scope and growth potential of this market, there seems to be plenty of room for both services to coexist.

According to U-T San Diego, Packaged Facts' report claims that online grocery will account for almost 12% of all grocery spending by 2019. Given that today online grocery only comprises 3.4% of total spending, these numbers may seem like a stretch, but it's important to note growth rates of this magnitude are already common in the online marketplace. Packaged Facts reveals that online grocery sales have risen 22% between this year and last alone.

“It was never a demand issue, but an issue of retailers wanting to embrace it. It changes the way you do business,” Tim shared in U-T San Diego. “A good store can move about 10 percent of its shoppers to online, so it becomes a big business.”

How will this market continue to evolve and develop as the industry moves into the future? Who can say for sure, but you can count on AndNowUKnow to bring you the latest updates as it pertains to this exciting trend.