New study: choice of supermarket not driven by low prices

Friday July 1st 2016

A new study has found that product availability and a convenient location are the two most influential factors when it comes to where UK shoppers choose to buy their groceries.

According to Nielsen’s Global Retail-Growth Strategies Survey, which polled more than 30,000 online respondents in 61 countries, 55% of UK shoppers said the products they wanted regularly in stock as being the most “highly influential” factor when choosing where they shopped. This was followed by a convenient location and good value for money.

In the UK having the lowest prices ranked just sixth in terms of high influence, and was less of a factor in the UK than globally and across Europe.

“These findings are good news for supermarkets as it demonstrates the opportunities to take a broader, more strategic view about their offer and not to be so focused on price, which can often be a short term reaction to competitive pressure,” said Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins. “For instance, four-in-10 British consumers agree grocery shopping is a chore that they try to spend as little time on as possible, thus, supermarkets need to pay more attention to the convenient and speedy experience that shoppers crave.”

As shopping habits change and the role of stores evolves, the survey also addressed what extra in-store services would be most likely to help grocery retailers entice consumers in.

Among additional services currently available in-store, petrol stations were used by 48% of shoppers where the service was available. Other widely used services included pharmacies, postal services and prepared food services.

Watkins added: “Supermarkets should consider the opportunity to provide extra services that help shoppers make the shopping trip compelling and convenient, such as financial services, dry cleaning, links to the local community and click-and-collect for online shopping. Forecourts also have the potential to be successful in this regard by attracting new footfall using food-on-the-go. The common theme across all channels is the need to provide convenient services that appeal to the time-poor consumer.”