Consumers Shift Spending To Supercenters But Still Prefer Grocery Stores.

Information Resources, Inc. released a new study, IRI Insights on Channel Differentiation, which examines consumer attitudes and shopping behavior across grocery store, drugstore, mass merchandiser, and supercenter channels of trade.

Key study findings indicate that while consumers are shifting spending to supercenters, they still prefer to purchase meat and produce from the grocery store. The study also concludes that convenience continues to be a major factor in determining where consumers shop and that channel differentiation is evident in consumer expectations of each outlet.

“This study provides a valuable overview of consumer attitudes and shopping behavior, revealing current strengths and vulnerabilities by channel and by product category,” said Allen Hill, executive vice president of IRI’s Retail Practice. “This study has implications for CPG manufacturers, retailers, and their collaborative category management efforts.”

IRI Insights on Channel Differentiation reviews channel trends from IRI’s retail sales and household panel tracking services. Additionally, the study features findings from a survey of IRI’s household panel regarding attitudes about shopping, expectations of each channel, and satisfaction with 47 different retailers across 16 metropolitan markets.

Key findings include:

— Supercenters gained roughly five million new customers in 2001, cannibalizing both shopping trips and dollars spent at the grocery outlet. However, consumers expressed a clear preference for grocery stores’ meat and produce departments.

— Consumers’ increasingly hectic lives leave less time for shopping, so convenience is a major factor in determining where consumers shop. Fifty four percent of shoppers said they prefer the convenience of getting all their shopping done under one roof. However, convenience means different things to different people. Supercenter shoppers, for example, find convenience in getting the low prices on a wide variety of products, without going to multiple stores. They don’t mind the
longer drive to the store and they enjoy taking their time shopping. Alternatively, less price-sensitive consumers find convenience in shopping the grocery/drug combination store closest to home, where they can pick up food and health/beauty products in the same trip and minimize the total time invested in shopping.

— Channel differentiation is evident in consumer expectations of each outlet. Out of 18 store attributes, convenient store location was rated most important to grocery shoppers, presumably because of the frequency of trips, approximately 1-2 times per week, and their desire to get fresh and frozen foods home quickly. In contrast, because of their size and price-focused advertising campaigns, consumers’ primary expectation of mass merchandisers is good value.

The IRI Shopping Attitudes and Retailer Satisfaction survey will serve as the foundation for three additional studies that will be available later this year: IRI Insights on Shopper Segmentation, Dollar Store Shoppers, and Private Label Buyers. Detailed tabulations of the survey results by channel, market, and retailer are also available.