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Posts Tagged ‘grocery’

Mother Knows Best: Moms Stay Optimistic, Shop Smart

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

After a tumultuous 2011, consumers are starting to regain confidence in their personal finances. This week, we released the SymphonyIRI Group Q1 2012 MarketPulse™ survey and found that 19 percent of consumers feel their financial position has improved over the past year. Forty percent feel it has remained unchanged, and 41 percent feel it has deteriorated. Though, less than inspiring, this is the most optimistic outlook since Q1 2011.

Despite the overriding doom and gloom, one group has managed to remain optimistic: the nation’s 85 million moms have a brighter outlook on the future than the general population—and trillions of dollars in spending power. The MarketPulse results offer valuable insights about this smart and influential group, including:

23 percent of moms feeling their financial position today is better than a year ago
28 percent are struggling to afford needed groceries
More than half will shop multiple stores to find the lowest price, versus 43 percent of the general population

Delving more into this trend, we also released a Point of View on this very important consumer demographic, “Valuable Assets: Today’s Moms Represent Savvy, Smart Shoppers.” In this Point of View, we discuss how often the primary shoppers for their households, moms are tasked with saving money on groceries and household needs. They adopted new shopping behaviors after the downturn and will likely continue those saving strategies even as the economy improves. Among their penny-pinching measures, moms have embraced new media as they are 2.5 times more likely than the general population to take recommendations from social networking sites or blogs.

Social media is integral for CPG marketers and retailers looking to target tech-savvy moms, but traditional marketing still goes a long way. Given their hectic schedules and mile-long, to-do lists, moms are very strategic shoppers. Nearly three-quarters make shopping lists, and moms are 24 percent more likely to use coupons to help make their lists than the general population. Once at the store, moms’ brand decisions are influenced by in-store circulars, advertisements and promotions. But, bottom line, price remains the primary deciding factor: 61 percent of moms say the price of an item heavily sways their brand decisions, versus 49 percent of the total population.

Tags: coupons, cpg, economy, grocery, manufacturers, Marketing, MarketPulse, moms, new media, Retailers, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, Social Media, SymphonyIRI, Women Shoppers
Posted in Moms | No Comments »

Frugality, List Making and a Taste for Gourmet: 2011 in Review

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

With minimal economic improvement, rising commodity prices and continued consumer frugality, 2011 was another challenging year for the CPG industry. During our recent webinar, “Times & Trends: CPG 2011 Year in Review,” I discussed the key economic and consumer trends that impacted CPG performance across various channels, departments and categories in 2011. These include:

Ongoing conservatism shifted shopper behavior: As illustrated in our December report, “The CPG Basket: Fostering Growth in a Time of Conservation,” pantry stocking missions are a way of the past. Consumers are now making smaller, more strategic shopping trips. Rather than blindly stocking up on anything and everything, consumers are carefully researching where and when they can obtain items at the best possible price.

Shopping locally: As gas prices continue to climb, many consumers are looking to shop closer to home, contributing to a decline in supercenter traffic. In 2011, consumers made an average of only two supercenter trips each month, compared with an average 4.7 grocery store trips.

In-home indulgences: Now that consumers across income levels are saving money by enjoying more meals at home, sales of various food and beverage categories have increased, including wine, chocolate, natural cheese and salty snacks.

Some consumers are starting to open their wallets—cautiously: Wealthier consumers are buying higher-end CPG products, such as gourmet foods and salon-quality hair products, but they’re doing so with an eye towards value. High-end CPG products allow consumers to reintroduce some of the luxuries they previously enjoyed, while still spending less than they would at restaurants, bars or salons.

Strong drug channel and private label performance: The drug channel remains strong, with dollar sales climbing more than 4 percent in 2011. Private label performance also remained positive, accounting for 22.9 percent of unit sales and 18.7 percent of dollar sales.

So what can CPG manufacturers and retailers learn from these findings?

Price remains the primary consideration for consumers, so CPG manufacturers should look for opportunities to lower costs through innovative sourcing, packaging, and product sizing strategies. This is also an ideal time to explore product development based upon existing and emerging consumer trends. Gourmet and other high-end products, in particular, present a strong growth opportunity.

Retailers should be cognizant of the growing private label popularity, and look to extend private label share, particularly across low-differentiation categories and those with significant price increases. It’s also important to constantly re-assess and adjust pricing to maintain an optimal price gap between private label and name brand offerings.

CPG retailers should also seek to enhance product assortment, especially in high-growth categories, and look for cross-promotional opportunities with high-growth categories and brands, as well as staple products. Both manufacturers and retailers should keep an eye out for technological advances and should seek out new and innovative means of informing and engaging consumers.

If you missed the webinar, you can view it here, or download the full “CPG 2011 Year in Review” report.

Tags: Consumers, cpg, economy, Frugal, grocery, pricing, Retail Solutions, Retailers, shopper attitudes, shopper behavior, Shoppers, shopping, SymphonyIRI, Times & Trends
Posted in CPG | No Comments »

A Year Behind and Ahead of the Curve

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Are you always searching for a million-dollar idea? I know I am; and recently, I thought I had it. Picture this—an app that leads you to your desired product via a store specific map. Brilliant, I know—and with millions of apps and smart phones flooding society, how could this not exist? Immediately I consulted my consumer panel of colleagues, friends, and family—all agreed this was the future: a real game-changing, million-dollar, never-been-had-before idea. Having been in the industry for years, surely I would know if a retailer had brought this to market…wrong.

Further investigation led me to Meijer, who I heard—despite the sound of my dreams shattering— had been fielding their Find-It app since 2010, though it never left 4-store beta testing. How had I not heard of this, and over a year later, why was it still in beta testing? The genius of my million-dollar idea began to fade until a recent newsletter came across my desk: Hy-Vee was announcing a similar app. Theirs, however, includes nuances like voice search and real-time tweeting about out-of-stock items, was backed by a marketing push, and is slated to roll out to all 235 stores.

The Hy-Vee push confirms my initial research: consumers recognize, crave, and expect the convenience of this technology. While the new update to Meijer’s app includes all their stores, Hy-Vee’s initial commitment gives them an edge with today’s shopper. Beyond affecting the in-store experience, their extra features improve their customers’ brand interactions outside the store. Their app eases the effort required to shop, and the choice for consumers is easy—less [effort] is more [trips].

The time has passed for toe-dipping into the Social Media/App waters—an emphasis must be placed on deploying social technologies with vigor and a megaphone. Today, it isn’t the initiator, but the believer who will win valuable shopper trips. If a retailer can commit to implementing fully-scoped and useful technology, consumers will leverage it—they want to leverage it—and you will have a million-dollar idea.

1. How are you engaging your customers with Social Media? What are you doing to 2) create awareness around your social and mobile platforms?

2. What could you do better to improve their experience through social and mobile technology?

3. Do you think you have to innovate to reach your customers, or could you leverage current best-practice approaches and improve on them?

Tags: app, Ben Perkins, grocery, Hy-Vee, Meijer, mobile technology, Retail Solutions, Retailers, SymphonyIRI
Posted in Retail Solutions | No Comments »

Consumers Still Feel Wary of Economic Future Heading Into the Holidays

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

We’ve had a busy week here at SymphonyIRI with the release of our Holiday Shopping 2011 survey results and Point of View, “Gray Skies: Consumers with negative views of government’s handling of the economy have hunkered down and reined in spending—for the long haul.” Both uncovered similar trends and while it is no surprise consumers are still feeling wary about the economic future, attitude toward spending is directly reflected upon their shopping behavior.

The Holiday Shopping 2011 survey that looked at shopping attitudes of 2,000 consumers (a nationally representative sample) found that this holiday season 81 percent will be turning to the Internet for the best deals and shopping online this year. While consumers expressed a desire to have a holiday season consistent with those experienced prior to the economic downturn, they are being extra conscious about exactly how and what they are spending their money on this year. A few examples of money saving strategies during the holiday season include:

79 percent of consumers will be making their grocery purchase decisions before entering the store
26 percent plan to spend less on holiday gifts with most budgets (74 percent) topping out at $800 for gifts
48 percent of consumers will take advantage more often of promotions learned online versus 50 percent, who will leverage online promotions with the same frequency as last year

While the holiday survey took a thorough look at holiday spending trends, many similarities with regard to shopper outlook was uncovered in the ”Gray Skies” Point of View that indicated 82 percent of shopper behavior is being impacted by negative feelings towards government spending, resulting in uncertainty that will undoubtedly impact holiday budgets.

This tightening of the belts has caused consumers to continue being creative with their saving and spending habits. And, thanks to the Internet and new technology, efforts to save money often are quick and easy, even literally at consumers’ fingertips on smartphones and other devices.

Between the Holiday Shopping 2011 research and the “Gray Skies” Point of View, it’s clear that the common and familiar theme among consumers of being conscious of personal finances, planning for the future and getting creative with savings and purchase decisions is here to stay. As the uncertainty of the economic future remains, it’s clear that the mindful spending habits of consumers will also continue creating an opportunity for manufacturers and retailers to capitalize on money saving promotions, strategies and programs.

Tags: budget, cpg, economy, Frugal, gifts, grocery, Holiday Shopping, online shopping, personal finance, Retail Solutions, sales, shopping behavior
Posted in Economy | 2 Comments »

Check It Out

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

As shoppers, we’ve all seen self-checkout stations pop up in stores nationwide. Some stores now only provide the self-checkout option.

This idea was initially implemented to save retailers labor costs by eliminating the need for cashiers at all times that the store is open. However, it hasn’t necessarily provided the cost benefit that some expected.

It’s arguable that a store with all self-checkout stations may be too much, as it eliminates shopper contact with the cashier whose role can serve as the face of the retailer. At the same time, a store with no self-checkout stations might also be a disservice to consumers who prefer less face-to-face interaction or are buying a last minute item and want to get in and out quickly. It seems a good compromise would be to have a few self-checkout stations in any given retail outlet in addition to express and regular checkout lanes serviced by a cashier.

Think of it this way:

From the consumer side – Offering a few self-service checkout stands enables those who only have an item or two or who are really efficient at self-checkout to quickly complete their purchases.
From the retailer standpoint – It also allows for face-to-face interaction with cashiers, creating opportunities to build relationships and establish brand loyalty.
From an economical perspective – The retailer is being responsible by opening up more workable hours and creating job positions in the current dire job market.

On one hand, this is completely a personal choice where each consumer has a preference as to how they pay; face-to-face or self-checkout. Through trial and error, retailers will figure out what method best suits their stores and their shoppers’ needs. As all shoppers are unique, addressing the needs of different customers by offering regular and express checkout lines in addition to self-checkout stations seems to be the most well rounded option. As a consumer, which do you prefer? As a retailer, what has worked best for you and your customers?

Tags: cpg, grocery, retailer, self-checkout, shopping
Posted in Self Checkout | 5 Comments »

Men don’t ask for directions, but do make lists

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

We’ve all heard about the stereotype, “You send a man to the grocery store for diapers and he comes back with a six pack.” However, after looking into the behavior of male shoppers in our study, “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus…Or Maybe Not?” SymphonyIRI concluded that the way men shop is really not all that different from the way women do.

Most studies into shopper behavior dissect shoppers by income, race and/or geographic location, but there was still little data about how men stacked up against women in the supermarket aisles.

Families used to depend on men to go hunting and bring back enough meat to sustain everyone, but sometime between then and now, a paradigm shift has occurred, and women were expected to manage all aspects of the household, including food shopping and preparation. Now, it appears that the paradigm is shifting again. Today, an increasing number of men are at least partly responsible for shopping, either because they work or stay at home, or are half of a two-income household where shopping responsibilities are split.

Of course, every person, man or woman, shops differently. Some make lists, some clip coupons, and others wait until they get to the store to decide what they’re having for dinner tonight. But based on this study, we can conclude that men aren’t always in the last category and women aren’t always in the first.

Consumers are telling us that, when it comes to grocery shopping, men and women are not as different as we may think. Like women, men are making lists before heading out to shop, are sensitive to price, look at store circulars, stock up when they see sales, and shop at stores that offer better deals for the items on their lists.

In other words, men might be from Mars and women from Venus, but Martians and Venusians are both approaching the grocery aisles with an eye to saving money. And, their approach to saving is similar in many ways.

Tags: cpg, grocery, Male Shoppers, men, shopping, SymphonyIRI
Posted in Male Shoppers | 3 Comments »