Insight: one in six have switched grocery store in the last year
A new study of more than 1,500 shoppers has found that one in six have changed their main store over the last 12 months. In addition, some 39% said that it would not matter to them if their usual grocery store closed as they would just switch to another shop.
The research by TCC Global also found that on average, shoppers have 11 ‘reachable’ stores, 10 ‘easily reachable’ and five that are ‘very easily’ reachable, making it very easy for shoppers to switch between retailers.
The top reasons given for shoppers changing retailer included ‘low everyday prices’ and ‘better value for money’. Shoppers’ focus on price was shown to be largely irrespective of household income, with 51% of high income households, 60% of medium income households and 64% of low income households saying they shopped where they could find the cheapest prices.
The third was the offer of ‘better rewards for my loyalty’. However, just 22% of respondents said they would spend less at a shop if it no longer offered loyalty cards, and the research found that shoppers have an average of 3.3 cards, but use only 2.5.
Bryan Roberts, global insight director at TCC Global, said: “With so much choice and price competition, customers are more inclined to switch retailers more frequently. To help combat price-based defection, big supermarkets need to provide rewards to loyal customers that go beyond loyalty cards.”
The study concluded that retailers can influence shopper choice by linking loyalty to cooking and eating deals with 43% of shoppers admitting to being more encouraged to buy from a shop which inspired everyday simple healthy meals and cooking from scratch.
The report also ranks the Big Four retailers on perception of their loyalty offering. Sainsbury’s was recognised as the best for rewarding loyalty while Asda, Lidl and Aldi fared the worst.
Roberts added: “A quest for better value-for-money involves much more than just price. Value in a broader sense also involves issues like quality and service (or perceptions thereof), an observation that is illustrated by the fact that Asda, which has been the cheapest supermarket for a great many years, has been steadily losing market share as perceptions of quality, in-store experience and range have – rightly or wrongly – lagged behind those of competitors.”
