Almost 20% of shoppers show no loyalty to any major supermarket
Around 8.75 million supermarket shoppers in England and Wales are not loyal to any major supermarket according to new research.
A study by Starcom MediaVest Group found that nearly 20% of the 45 million regular supermarket shoppers are so-called ‘Swapper-Shoppers’ who show no allegiance to any of the big six supermarkets.
SMG analysed data from Kantar Worldpanel to identify ‘Swapper Shopper’ behaviour in 21.1 million regular shoppers across England and Wales. Waitrose was found to have the least loyal customer base with 22.6% of its 2.03 million regular customers classed as ‘Swapper Shoppers’ and therefore most likely to shop with a competitor. Co-op and Morrisons customers appear to be the most loyal although there were big variations according to geographical area.
The study also revealed that five of the big six supermarkets have around a fifth of their regular shopper base at risk of becoming ‘Swapper Shoppers’. Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco customers were more likely to shop at a rival store store than customers of Co-op and Morrisons while Tesco was considered to be most at risk due its dominant market share with 3.51 million ‘Swapper Shoppers’.
Thaer Namruti, analytics director at Starcom MediaVest Group, said: “The study is particularly interesting as it shows a large proportion of each supermarket’s shopper base is vulnerable. Supermarkets need to be aware of this and constantly work towards keeping their customers satisfied, paying special attention to high risk areas.”
