How does your household get food on the table each week? An October 2026 report by Gallup writer Lydia Saad shows American food routines are changing. “Americans’ grocery shopping and dining habits have shifted in recent years,” Gallup reports. More families now fill digital carts from home instead of walking supermarket aisles or visiting restaurants. The data comes from a Gallup Consumption Habits survey conducted in July 2026.
Digital convenience is driving a major change in how people stock their kitchens. “Weekly online grocery ordering, which first reached double digits during the pandemic, has since climbed to 15%,” Gallup notes. Back in 2019, only 4% of adults ordered their groceries online every week. In fact, Gallup states that “ordering groceries online has seen the broadest increase since before the pandemic.” Roughly 41% of Americans now use online grocery pickup or delivery at least occasionally.
Because more shoppers click to buy, physical supermarket trips are happening less often. Gallup explains that “the share visiting grocery stores in person at least weekly has fallen to a record-low 74%.” Shoppers have not abandoned physical stores completely, as 96% still visit in person each year. Instead, families space out their trips, with 21% shopping in person once or twice monthly.
Women are leading this shift away from weekly in-store errands toward digital grocery orders. Since 2022, weekly in-store shopping among women dropped from 84% to 69%, while online ordering reached 16%. Meanwhile, habits among men stayed steady, with 80% shopping in stores and 12% ordering online weekly.
Restaurants are feeling an even bigger pinch as Americans rethink their weekly food budgets. According to the poll, “the percentage of adults eating out at least weekly has fallen to 39%.” That marks a steep drop from 53% in 2019 and 47% in 2022. Gallup observes a “more significant downshift in the frequency of dining out than is seen for grocery shopping.” Now, 20% of adults dine out less than monthly, which doubles the 2019 rate.
“Upper-income adults consistently report the highest rates of weekly dining out, while lower-income adults report the lowest,” Gallup states. Specifically, 48% of upper-income Americans eat out weekly, compared with 38% of middle-income and 32% of lower-income adults. Finally, Gallup notes that “Two other ways Americans feed their households have been steadier in the long term.” Weekly restaurant takeout stands at 31%, while weekly meal-preparation kits remain rare at 3%.
Sources
- Gallup News – More Ordering Groceries Online; Fewer Dining Out: https://news.gallup.com/poll/716090/ordering-groceries-online-fewer-dining.aspx
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