As you shopped over the weekend or plan to hit the market aisles this week, keep in mind that you have a new name.
You are now “Shopper Inc.”
Jacksonville-based Acosta Sales & Marketing represents major consumer products and helps retailers place them where you, the consumer, will more likely buy them.
In its semi-annual “The Why? Behind The Buy” analysis of
consumer trends, the company found that in the “new normal” economy resulting from the recession there is a “new normal” shopper.
“Today’s conservative, educated and prepared Shopper Inc. is approaching shopping much like a business approaches financial decisions,” reports Acosta in the 18-page report.
“Today’s shopper is researching, planning, weighing options, making decisions and even looking for ROI,” it said, referring to return on investment.
Paul Price is executive vice president of Acosta and leads the Acosta Marketing Group’s Insights and Analytics division, consisting of insights, research and advisory services, and core Acosta analytic and shelf technology services.
His division works with Acosta clients to develop brand strategy, in-store programs and more, including research to link shopper attitude insights with actual shopper sales behavior data.
(What, you all of a sudden realized in the store you needed that one particular brand and size and flavor of juice?)
Acosta, with more than $1 billion in annual revenues and 20,000 employees, works with more than 1,000 consumer packaged goods companies, including the majority of No. 1 and No. 2 brands. It also works with almost every major food and grocery retailer in North America.
Price said last week, after the fall report was issued, that shoppers haven’t seen any improvement in their financial situation since the last survey in the spring.
“Half of them are still experiencing financial hardship, and they are still spending less on groceries and going to the store less frequently than they were a year ago,” he said.
“Unemployment is still high, food prices have gone up because of commodity cost, we are paying more for fuel than a year ago and shoppers continue to be forced to make decisions to trade down or trade out completely.”
That means shoppers are forced to trade down from premium brands to value or store brands or stop buying the category altogether.
For example, he said if you usually purchase lunchmeat, bread, mustard and pickles for your family’s sandwiches and you have to make a choice of what not to buy, you might “trade down” from a name brand to a store brand, or you might choose not to buy the pickles or the mustard at all.
Another development, he said, is with shoppers needing financial help, such as through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the food-stamp program.
“More people than ever rely on government assistance through the SNAP program and this is changing the buying patterns also. For the most part, shoppers want to buy the same brands or products they’ve bought before, are shopping to restock what they’ve run out of, and continuing to find ways to save money,” said Price.
Price said Acosta’s research indicates that the situation will continue.
“We don’t expect much to change for shoppers in the next six months, or even the next year. There has been inflation in just about every category across the store,” he said.
“This continues to put pressure on the food budget. What we called the ‘new normal’ 12 months ago is now just ‘normal’ – something we call Shopper Inc.,” he said.
The report shows that shoppers are spending an average of 3 percent more on routine trips over the year, although it varies by income range. Shoppers spent an average of $95.80 on a routine grocery shopping trip in July 2010 and $99 in July this year.
The average in July 2009 was $97.10.
Acosta also is seeing a widening divide among income groups, what Price said is called “the tale of two economies.” He said differences are becoming more pronounced between the shopping habits of low- and middle-income shoppers and the higher-income shoppers.
“The lower income shoppers are being forced into decisions that the higher income shoppers do not have to make,” he said.
Regardless of income, the “path to purchase” has changed considerably, Price said.
“Shoppers are pre-planning more and buying on impulse less. Major decisions on what to buy have moved from in-store to at home, as shoppers use store circulars, coupons and online sites or apps to help them save money,” he said.
Price said the latest survey report didn’t surprise him.
“Six months ago, we predicted that shoppers wouldn’t be seeing relief any time soon. Now they are telling us that not only has nothing changed, they’re further ingrained in their spending habits – their attitudes have changed permanently,” he said.
“We are seeing trends emerge like selective indulgence, where shoppers are picking their spots to reward themselves and/or families with premium treats,” he said.
The forecast calls for the new habits to continue.
“We expect food prices to continue to increase as the cost of raw ingredients and transportation also increases,” he said.
“We don’t expect a full economic recovery until 2015 or later and we expect the conservative spending behavior to continue as shoppers continue finding ways to feed their families for less,” he said.
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