Social Trends Drove Customer Behavior in 2024
PHILADELPHIA — Viral social trends drove customer behavior in 2024 as consumers continued to seek greater value through discounts and offers, Gopuff's annual "Consumer Trends Report" found.
For the annual report, Gopuff analyzed orders across the country to identify the most popular products and flavors of the year. The major themes that emerged in 2024 and the online commerce retailer's predictions for the new year include:
The Commerce of Internet Culture
The Sleepy Girl Mocktail: In January, creator Gracie Norton's recipe for the "Sleepy Girl Mocktail" — made with cherry juice, Poppi and magnesium — went viral. Customer behavior on Gopuff reflected this trend in real-time: In January, searches for the Sleepy Girl Mocktail ingredients were 111% higher compared to the 2023 average. Searches for Tart Cherry Juice specifically were 131% higher in 2024 when compared to 2023, and prebiotic soda orders were 127% higher in the first quarter of 2024 when compared to the 2023 average.
Josh Wine: At the beginning of the year, memes about Josh Cellars wines went viral because of its name. As a result, Josh Cellars secured the top spot as the best-selling wine brand on Gopuff in January, boasting an impressive 35% year-over-year increase in sales.
Cottage Cheese Everything: TikTok has been flooded with recipes for cottage cheese everything — toast, mac and cheese, protein cookie dough and much more. Cottage cheese captured consumers' hearts online so much that the high-protein, low-calorie food saw a 166% increase in orders on Gopuff this year.
Cucumber Salad: Creator Logan Moffit, also known as "cucumber guy," went viral this summer after posting TikTok videos detailing the best way to "eat an entire cucumber." Searches for "cucumber" rose 28% in August as the trend took off. In fact, while searches have remained elevated since August, Gopuff sold more cucumbers in August than any other month this year.
Diet Pepsi: In the three weeks following the release of Addison Rae's song "Diet Pepsi," which became a frequently used TikTok song, Gopuff observed a 10% increase in orders for the product compared to the weeks preceding the song release.
"Hear Me Out" Cake: On TikTok this fall, people began revealing their deepest, darkest secrets through the "Hear Me Out" cake trend, placing cut-outs of fictional characters on cakes. When this trend sparked in October, orders for cake mix increased by 24 when compared to the previous month.
Major TV Moments Drive Customer Orders
The Big Game: For one of the biggest TV moments on the calendar, customers across the country took to their couches and their phones to order Gopuff during the Big Game — 14% more than a typical Sunday. In Gopuff's "2024 Brand Bowl" report, the retailer found that customers turned to Gopuff for game day essentials like ice (up 113%), Tostitos (up 332%), alcohol (75%) and hot sauce (154%). When it came to the ads shown, Lindor Chocolate saw the biggest increase (231%) in orders for its products in the hour after its Big Game commercial aired.
Nervous on Election Night: As customers tuned into Election Night coverage on Nov. 5, Gopuff sales rose nearly 20% compared to the average Tuesday. On election night, Americans glued to their TVs and phones ordered comfort food and medication for their heart burn. Sales of ice cream, alcohol and pain relievers were all up more than 30% and digestive aids like Tums were up 13%. Meanwhile, orders for condoms were down 5%.
Most Popular Products of the Year
As Gopuff's customer base continues to evolve and mature, and as the company expands its assortment to meet consumers' growing needs, grocery staples have become more popular on Gopuff than ever before:
- Basically Purified Water Bottles
- Simply Lemonade Raspberry
- Organic Valley Grade A Free Range Large Brown Eggs
- Banana
- Chester's Flamin' Hot Fries
Flavor Profile Rankings
- Sweet
- Savory
- Spicy
- Salty
Most Popular Recipes
- Smash burger
- Fried chicken sandwich
- Spaghetti al limone
Most Popular Ice Cream
Ice cream is intensely popular on Gopuff and there's only one pint that has reigned supreme for nearly 10 years. Ben & Jerry's Half Baked pint has been Gopuff's most-ordered ice cream every year since 2014, with the exception of 2021 when it was second only to Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake. The U.S. cities ordering the most ice cream were:
- Auburn, Ala.
- Hartford, Conn.
- Providence, R.I.
- Birmingham, Ala.
- Madison, Wis.
Gift Giving
The average number of Gift Orders per month in 2024 was 136% higher than 2023, with the most popular days for gifting being Valentine's Day and Mother’s Day. But customers gifted throughout the year, including sending "Get Well Soon" products like Gatorade, ginger ale and bananas to under-the-weather friends in addition to gifting romantic offerings like a box of chocolates and roses.
Customer Quirks
2024's Customer Superlatives honor a few loyal customers with unique order habits:
- Most Adventurous: The most adventurous customer, who ordered from the widest variety of categories and brands, purchased 558 brands from 237 categories. Their favorite brand is Gopuff's Basically private label.
- Most Pet Friendly: One customer with a very likely happy pup ordered more than 560 Redbarn Peanut Butter Filled Bone Dog treats. Another like-minded, yet cat-loving customer ordered more than 450 cans of Fancy Feast Grilled Salmon and Shrimp, while another customer treated their cat(s) 29 weeks straight with their fur baby's favorite treat: Friskies Meaty Bits.
- Most Sour: One customer had nearly 900 limes delivered to their door over the course of the year.
- Most Pickley: Another customer ordered nearly 500 jars of Vlasic Kosher Dill Pickle Spears.
- Most Dairy: One customer ordered more than 450 Chobani Flip Greek Yogurt, specifically the S'mores flavor.
2025 Predictions
Social Trends Will Drive Purchases: Building on what Gopuff saw in 2024, the retailer expects social trends to continue having an outsized impact on customer purchases in the new year. As creators continue to develop unusual, accessible and share-worthy food creations, customers are eager to try these creations out for themselves. However, some of these trends are over as fast as they start, so brands will need to act quickly to capitalize on relevant moments.
[Read more: What Can the Convenience Channel Expect in 2025?]
As social media plays a bigger role in product discovery and purchasing decisions, Gopuff predicts a new era for emerging brands in the consumer packaged goods space. Gopuff's Latest & Greatest category — which features collections of products from emerging brands, trending items and more — grew in popularity this year, and the "Just Dropped" collection, focusing on emerging brands, was the most popular.
Value Proposition: In 2024, Gopuff predicted value would continue to drive purchasing decisions for increasingly cost-conscious customers. That proved to be true as customers began placing more orders from Gopuff's redesigned Deals Center throughout the course of the year. In November, nearly one of every three products sold came from the Deals Center as customers sought out greater value — and it's paying off. With lower prices on hundreds of essentials, $0 delivery fees, weekly deals and more, Gopuff's FAM members saved an average of $30 per month, equating to $360 per year, the company found.
As inflation and economic uncertainty continue to influence consumer behavior, value-driven purchasing will continue to dominate consumer trends in 2025. Customers will turn to retailers and loyalty programs offering clear discounts and budget-friendly prices on grocery staples, Gopuff predicts.
Philadelphia-based Gopuff is a go-to instant commerce platform, fulfilling consumers' evolving, everyday needs. It was founded in 2013 by cofounders and co-CEOs Rafael Ilishayev and Yakir Gola.