aldi customer shopper soft drinks

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  • Customers visited fewer stores last week but increased frequency of visits overall

  • The average convenience shopper visited 1.5 different c-stores in the week

  • Shoppers are choosing the destinations they believe will have the products they want

 

The latest supermarket data from Him & MCA Insight has revealed shoppers are becoming more loyal to particular retailers, as they seek out the best availability.

According the Channel Pulse survey, which is Him & MCA’s new weekly measure of shopper and consumer behaviour, customers visited fewer stores last week but increased frequency of visits overall, despite government advice to stay home as much as possible during the coronavirus pandemic.

Compared with the previous week (w/c 30 March 2020), visit frequency across all grocery retail channels increased and the volume of different retailers visited per shopper either decreased or remained the same.

The average convenience store shopper visited 2.2 times (+5%), supermarket shopper 1.9 times (+6%) and discounter shopper 2.1 times (+17%).

As shoppers get into more of a routine, loyalty to a given retailer is also on the rise, with the average convenience shopper visiting 1.5 different c-stores in the week (–12%), supermarket shoppers visiting 1.5 different supermarkets (–12%) and discounter shoppers visiting 1.1 discounters (no change).

Familiarity remained the number one driver to store. However, confidence in the stock levels of certain stores grew in importance this week as shoppers chose the destinations they believed would have the products they wanted.

Blonnie Walsh, head of insight at Him & MCA Insight, said: “It has now been over two weeks since lockdown began and shoppers are starting to find more of a routine and are visiting fewer stores per week to find the items they want.

“Interestingly, shoppers visited grocery retail stores more frequently last week than the week before, despite increased awareness of the government guidance to limit the number of trips for essentials.”

She added: “Unsurprisingly availability is key to attracting shoppers. Shoppers are increasingly choosing a particular store because they were confident it would have the items they needed. Communication both online and in-store is key to reassuring shoppers that a retailer has a good range available – particularly for products that are deemed essential and harder to find.”

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