Delivery and Evaluation of an Online Grocery Shopping Intervention Across Two States (KY and NC)

Abstract Grocery shopping in the 21st century is changing drastically and one major element of this change is online grocery shopping. In a Nielsen global survey of more than 30,000 consumers in 60 countries, approximately 10% said they currently order groceries online and pick them up in-store or at curbside. In addition, more than half said they would be willing to use these online options in the future, indicating the growing popularity of these online shopping options. In the US in 2015, online grocery sales were worth approximately 7 billion dollars, The Nielsen Global E-commerce and the New Retail Survey polled 30,000 online respondents in 60 countries and found that worldwide, Millennials (ages 21- 34) and Generation Z (ages 15-20) are most frequent users of online grocery shopping (both home delivery and click-and-collect). Among those households participating in supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) online grocery shopping may also provide an approach to help improve food security and make healthier purchases by limiting impulse purchases at brick and mortar stores. In addition, online shopping may provide an approach to assist with management of food dollars in a more efficient manner during the month. However, there is very limited research in understanding how online shopping may improve shopping practices, especially among lower income and SNAP households. Aim 1. Determine the barriers and facilitators to online grocery shopping through a survey among rural and urban families in central and eastern Kentucky across rural and urban communities. Aim 2. Examine differences in purchases (healthy vs. unhealthy) and food security status between 1) online grocery shopping standard program offered through stores (Online); 2) online grocery shopping program plus nutrition educational text message prompts with recipes and meal planning ideas(Online + I); and 3) standard grocery shopping via brick and mortar (Standard). Aim 3. Examine changes over time in uptake of online shopping and percentage of SNAP dollars spent online within the region offering the USDA SNAP online pilot plus nutrition intervention vs those regions within KY and NC not offering the nutrition intervention.