Shoppers will pay more for products that make life easier, new study suggests
Shoppers regard product innovations that help them save time and do things better as being more important than saving money, new research has revealed.
The study by GfK of 2,983 people found that 83% of respondents thought the most important benefits of product innovation were making life easier followed by helping people do things better (81%), saving time (75%), convenience (77%) and entertainment (33%). ‘Saving money’ was third on the list at 80%, suggesting that, despite the recession, consumers consider some of the benefits of product innovation are worth paying extra for.
The top five categories where people buy new products were shown to be snacks, household cleaning products, packaged food, perishable food, and oral care. While 56% of those surveyed had bought a new snack food at least once in the past 12 months, 11% bought a new product in this category more than five times. Half of respondents had bought a household cleaning product that they considered to be “new and different” in the past 12 months, with 23% buying one during the year a total of two to five times.
Seeing a new product in-store was shown to be the most popular way of finding out about it. This was followed by TV advertising which was particularly powerful for household cleaners, hair care, laundry products and soft drinks. Family and friends were also found to be a powerful source together with print ads, features and professional advisers. Online, internet searches and websites were used more than social media.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Head of FMCG for the UK, Peter Jenkins from GfK said: “There is no doubt of the importance of product innovation in the grocery sector – particularly for products such as snacks and drinks, household cleaning and laundry products and toiletries. Even in these straitened times we see that if people believe a new product will make their lives better, the benefit is more important than cost savings.”
