Cost of living crisis forcing Brits to cut down on essentials
According to the latest report from out-of-home media experts Clear Channel UK, 75% of the British public have had to make changes to their grocery shopping behaviour due to the cost of living crisis.
As well as cutting down on obvious indulgences such as luxuries and treats (45%), an alarming one in five shoppers have had to cut back on things that they would class as essential items.
For 37% of shoppers the need to cut down has forced them to do their grocery shopping at a supermarket with cheaper prices than their usual spot. For Aldi, the current reigning cheapest supermarket in the UK, this is probably welcome news. As well as relocating their weekly shop, shoppers are swapping their preferred brands for own labelled goods (35%), and even resorting to shopping less frequently (26%) in an attempt to stay within their budgets. Only 13% of Brits haven’t had to make any form of adjustment to their spending habits to better deal with the current state of financial insecurity – meaning that the majority of the nation are feeling the squeeze to the point where it’s forcing behavioural changes.
When it comes to how they’re shopping, Clear Channel UK’s research has made it obvious that most people prefer to shop for groceries in store instead of placing orders online. A decisive 96% of Brits would rather shop in person, a preference which is felt across multiple generations. Despite the age gap that separates them, 16-24-year-olds and the Boomer generation both favour shopping in stores to shopping online (59%) – suggesting that the desire to shop in store isn’t necessarily driven by an aversion to technology as one might assume.
Being able to shop in stores comes with lots of benefits that can’t be had online. One of the key reasons cited in Clear Channel’s research include being able to immediately assess the quality of a product before you purchase it (63%). This makes sense at a time when people are looking to spend their money as wisely as possible, as quality can definitely be a deciding factor on whether or not a purchase is made. Other reasons include the ability to secure better deals (43%) and being able to see the availability of a product (53%). One in three Brits also believe that shopping in person will give them more of a chance to discover new products, which also links back to the need some shoppers are feeling to deviate away from their preferred brands.
A quarter of Brits shop in-store because they value the in-person shopping experience. This surprisingly low number suggests that there may be little interpersonal satisfaction to be gained from shopping at a time when everyone is increasingly worried about making ends meet. As the cost of living crisis continues, it remains to be seen what can be done to keep grocery shopping from becoming an unpleasant experience as opposed to a mundane, even enjoyable activity.
To find out more visit Clear Channel here.
