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Understand how shoppers trade off price, value and other key issues including health and ethics in food and grocery shopping
Trade-offs
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| Healthy food | |
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As more and more issues enter the food shopping decision-making process, shoppers are increasingly faced with trade-offs. IGD's, 'Shopper Trends - 5 Years On research found that price, while still important, is balanced against a number of other factors which constitute value for the shopper. These include the quality of the ingredients, the health benefits and the social and environmental impact of production.
How consumers react when faced with difficult trade-offs depends on what is most important to them, which in turn varies by category, product and occasion. External forces affecting shopper choices include the changing world economy, population and cultural shifts, climate change, growing obesity levels and concern for health and an increasing awareness about how food is produced.
Importance of healthy eating
This growing demand for products that are healthy and that display ethical and environmental credentials comes through in our findings.
Messages on health appear to be having an impact on shoppers, with many altering their diet and trying to move towards a healthier lifestyle. Drinking more water is the most common, mentioned by over four in ten shoppers (44%) while similar numbers mentioned taking more exercise (39%) and eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day (38%). The success of the 5 a day campaign is clearly demonstrated with 34% of shoppers indicating that they had specifically bought food in the last month because it contributed to their five daily portions of fruit and vegetables. This is compared to 23% in 2004 when this option was first included in the survey.
Main specific food purchase - 5 years on
Which apply to the choices you have made when food shopping in the last month?
I have specifically bought...
Base: All main shoppers Source: IGD Consumer Unit, 2008
Environmental concerns driving product choice
It is clear from our research that shoppers are not depending on diet alone for a healthy lifestyle. Further opportunities exist for companies to do campaigns or promotions which promote healthy lifestyles e.g. Sainsbury's Active Kids.
Another issue that is clearly important to shoppers at a retail and foodservice level is provenance. Knowing where food has come from is more important now than it was in 2003.
This is demonstrated by the following findings:
- One fifth of shoppers (21%) said that knowing which country the product has come from is an important consideration in choosing products. This was mentioned by 15% of respondents in 2003.
- Over one quarter (27%) of shoppers indicated that they would try new products if they were promoted as being locally produced. One quarter (25%) said that they had specifically bought products in the last month that had been produced in the area where they live (up from 15% in 2003).
In addition to promoting local or British products as an assurance of quality or safety, sourcing is increasingly used to demonstrate a company’s commitment to the environment.
16% of shoppers in 2008 compared to 9% in 2003 indicated that the distance the food has travelled is a production concern for them.
More Information
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Shopper Trends 2008
The definitive guide to shopper attitudes, this report provides five years of annual tracking data and will help you understand drivers of product and store choice and the impact of emerging trends such as food price inflation, indulgence, ethics and health and wellbeing on purchasing habits. |
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