Grocery shoppers are increasingly thinking before they shop,
making lists of what they need and researching the stores that
offer the best deals.
Making a list is still the most popular way of preparing for the
weekly shop, with a 70% participation rate.
Selecting paper coupons to take on grocery trips remains the
second-most popular pre-trip activity. Shoppers are also
significantly more likely to say that they are searching for
coupons online. In February 2012, one-quarter of shoppers reported
doing this activity all or most of the time in preparation for
grocery trips, as opposed to just 20% in February 2011.
Key Numbers
- 70 Percentage of people who make a shopping list.
- 25 Percentage of people who search for coupons online.
Many other web-based preparation activities increased in
popularity this year. Putting together a shopping list on a
retailer's web site, looking at a record of shopping history
online, and looking at retailer Facebook and Twitter feeds (either
for specific retailers shoppers are planning to visit, or to decide
which retailers to shop) all increased significantly from last
year.
Despite constant introduction of new online initiatives, print
media is still the top choice for shoppers who are researching
and comparing prices among retailers before grocery trips. Half of
shoppers now say that they look at printed store circulars or ads
for specific retailers where they plan to shop-up significantly
from 48% last year.
Modes of preparation have varying degrees of popularity among
different shopper segments. Not surprisingly, web-based trip
planning is more popular among Gen Y and Gen X shoppers-with often
two to three times more shoppers in these cohorts using digital
tools for pre-trip planning than all shoppers. Following Twitter
feeds is also popular with younger shoppers.
Boomer and Senior shoppers are significantly less likely than
all shoppers to engage in any sort of online trip preparation
activity.
The full PDF can be downloaded below.
Image credit: liz_com1981