The ongoing recession is having lasting effects on how consumers approach their routine shopping missions, finds Symphony IRI. Consumers are making fewer large stocking-up grocery shopping trips and more quick trips to get a few specific items.
Stock-up trips’ share of total consumer packaged goods spending declined by 1.1 percentage points between 2008 and 2011. Among Hispanic households, large trips’ share declined 1.3 points — a significant shift in a demographic that is typically more likely than the average household to rely on this style of shopping.
At the same time that larger trips’ share of spending has declined, quick trips’ share has increased — 1.2 percentage points among all households, and 1.3 percentage points each among Hispanic households and households with children.
Quick trips make up more than seven in 10 shopping trips to drug and dollar stores, and more than four in 10 trips to grocery, club, and mass/superstores.
Consumers are trying to make do on less by skipping “non-essential” purchases, buying only what they need at the moment, and looking for products that cover several needs — such as multi-symptom healthcare products and multipurpose cleansers. Timing of shopping trips is also important for many households; nearly a third arrange their shopping around pay periods.
Source: “The CPG Basket: Fostering Growth in A Time of Conservation,” Symphony IRI, Staci Covkin, VP Consumer & Shopper Insights, 150 N. Clinton St., Chicago, UL 60661; 973-449-3457; staci.covkin@symphonyiri.com; www.symphonyiri.com. Price: Available online at no charge.
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