This week NACS covered an interesting piece of research from Circana, showing that shoppers are searching for more value.
“Consumers have always modified their shopping habits in response to economic challenges,” noted Circana. Shoppers are searching for value that can equate to time savings, quality, convenience, a type of indulgence, or other measures.
“The ways consumers seek value also differs now. Instead of engaging in one or two of the following behaviors, consumers may pursue several or all of them,” said Circana.
The behaviors include:
Quicker, more frequent trips. All grocery trip types are growing. Quick trips (+8.9%) lead growth, but with fewer items (-11%) purchased per trip compared to a year ago.
Cutting back on foodservice. Foodservice traffic is down -2% year over year through Q2 2024, but it’s resulted in retail gains (+0.85%) versus a year ago as consumers prepare more meals at home.
Trading to private label and premium brands. Consumers’ shifting value definition has caused growth in private label (+3%), premium (+2%), and super premium brands (+4%) compared to a year ago.
Switching channels. Consumers are shifting to value channels, which account for most trading-down behaviors. Mass and club channels continue to drive most food and beverage growth. E-commerce for food and beverage, driven by store delivery, is growing.
“Because these shopping trends are likely to persist well into 2025, retailers and brands need to dig deep to understand their consumers and change some of their tactics to recapture growth,” said Circana.
Three focus areas Circana said to consider are:
Highlighting unique attributes.
Use assortment strategy to provide more options and tiers.
Engage consumers with targeted messaging.
Original article Consumer Behavior is Shifting | NACS
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