NEW YORK—Gone are the days of impulse buys fueled by in-store advertising and attractive product labels, according to a new survey of American shoppers. Consumers have fundamentally changed the way they spend money, and they say this change will last well beyond the recession.
Most responders (92 percent) have changed their grocery shopping behavior in the last two years in the lasts study released by Deloitte and Harrison Group titled, “The 2010 American Pantry Study: The New Rules of the Shopping Game.” In particular, 89 percent said they have become more resourceful while 84 percent say they are more precise when they shop.
In addition, the survey showed that while this new shopping approach is generally based on spending less, approximately two out of three (65 percent) people do not feel like they are sacrificing much. In fact, 79 percent reported feeling smarter about the way they shop versus two years ago. Moreover, consumers have embraced a persistent recessionary mindset, as 93 percent surveyed said they will remain cautious and keep spending at their current level, even if the economy improves.
The study also uncovered that loyalty cards are very important to shoppers with 84 percent reporting having at least one, and 65 percent describing them as an “essential/very important” money-saving method. In addition, 44 percent of consumers surveyed are now using loyalty cards in grocery stores every time they shop.
To save money, shoppers are looking for sales with nearly half (48 percent) putting off a purchase of a product they wanted because it was not on sale. In addition, consumers are also considering different brands. According to the survey, three out of four (75 percent) people are more open to trying private label and store brands than two years ago. Consumers surveyed don’t believe they are sacrificing when buying store brands, with 85 percent saying they have found several brands that are just as good as national brands. In fact, 80 percent of those surveyed believe that most store brands are manufactured by the traditional national brands.
Coupons are another popular tool with 67 percent of people increasing their coupon usage and finding them across a variety of media outlets including: newspapers (59 percent), mail (54 percent), store (53 percent) and online (41 percent).
The Deloitte/Harrison Group study revealed four distinct shopper decision strategies, embodied by four segments of consumers, each reflecting their own attitudes and resourcefulness. They divide shoppers into the “Super Savers,” who manage their resourcefulness at the cash register, hunting for and taking pleasure in savvy price management through extensive coupon collection; “Sacrificers,” who manage resourcefulness at the shelf, selecting among competing products on the basis of unit price, shopping more store brands and eliminating convenience shopping, “Planners,” who address resourcefulness through pantry management where they plan out meals, accept bulk pack discounts and set fixed spending limits; and “Spectators,” who are the most loyal to national brands and were the least impacted by the recession, but still strive to be resourceful.
According to the study, three of these shopper segments — Super Savers, Planners and Spectators — which combined account for about 80 percent of shoppers, have little intention of returning to their old shopping practices. They see the changes they have made as having led to emotional, as well as practical, rewards and they do not believe they have made unacceptable trade-offs in the marketplace. Sacrificers, on the other hand, are not as pleased with the changes they have had to make, particularly when it comes to the adoption of store brands.
“The 2010 American Pantry Study: The New Rules of the Shopping Game” was conducted by Deloitte and Harrison Group. The survey polled 2,077 household shoppers and food preparers in the U.S. during April 2010 and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.