Instacart Blows Past Walmart in Online Grocery Business

The coronavirus pandemic gave a major boost to online grocery orders, as many people sheltered in their homes. But one company—Instacart—benefited a lot more in the business than its bigger rival, Walmart, as new data demonstrates.

Walmart saw its weekly share of the online grocery business relative to other major players in the category drop to around 25% in March, after ranging between about 40% and 50% for more than a year. The decline came as Walmart struggled to fulfill the onslaught of new orders coming in from people cooped up in their homes. Meanwhile, Instacart’s share spiked dramatically, as the chart above shows, reaching a high of 57% in April, according to Second Measure, a firm that analyzes credit card purchasing data.