Consumers Economize in Grocery Shopping

May 8, 2002

Still concerned about the U.S. economy, U.S. consumers continue to incorporate economizing behaviors in their weekly grocery shopping, according to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Report, Trends in the United States: Consumer Attitudes & the Supermarket, 2002.

The report also shows that, along with a strong desire for value, consumers are seeking healthier mealtime solutions and more variety from food retailers. Despite a decrease in spending averages for both the household grocery bill and per-person expenditures, the report shows that consumers are spending more at their primary store and that their overall satisfaction with supermarkets remains high.

Consumers also are spending less on restaurant takeout and are expressing more interest in preparing home-cooked meals at least three times per week - a significant change from previous years. Consumers also express a high level of confidence in the safety of food purchased at supermarkets and they are showing an increased interest in irradiated food products. As with nutrition, most consumers feel that they are primarily responsible for ensuring the safety of the food they consume and many follow food safety practices at home.

The report finds that shopper satisfaction with grocery store performance remains high with 77% giving their supermarket a rating of 8 or higher (on a scale of 10). And 67% of these customers definitely would recommend their store to a newcomer, a slight decline from the 70% recorded last year.

Three top features Trends consumers deem important when choosing a primary supermarket are a clean, neat store; high-quality fruits and vegetables; and high-quality meat. All of these features, which retained the same relative ranking from the 2001 survey, were identified by shoppers to be "very important" in store selection.

Low prices moved up the scale to score a tie for the third most important feature factors, increasing to 84% from 77%; and the importance of a fast checkout declined after nearly a decade of steady increases.

Other key considerations include use-before/sell-by dates, money-saving specials, convenient store layout, fast checkout and personal safety outside the store.