Rising costs and squeezed budgets are driving convenience shoppers towards the discounters, new data has shown.
According to Lumina Intelligence, shoppers are becoming increasingly value-led, with 79% of shoppers now considering themselves to be more conscious of price, which is up five percentage points since 2021.
The shift in consumer behaviour has consequently led to less footfall entering convenience stores, with the total shopper numbers in the channel falling 5% year on year in the 12 weeks to 14 May.
Speaking at the recent Convenience Conference, Flora Zwolinski, senior insight manager at Lumina Intelligence, said it was a reflection of shoppers moving towards the discounters as they seek better prices and manage spend.
More specifically, its data showed convenience shoppers visiting discounters once or more a week have increased by five percentage points to 35% in the past two years.
“It is the most price sensitive, cost conscious and lower income shoppers that we have seen leave the channel in favour for some of the larger supermarkets and lower cost discounters,” said Zwolinski.
“Therefore, it remains key that value is at the centre of your messaging and strategy in order to resonate with consumers.”
The data showed however that the shoppers who have remained are “engaged”, said Zwolinski, and are visiting convenience stores more, up 4% to an average 2.7 times a week, and investing in larger baskets.
“Last year, basket size took a bit of a hit and was in decline, so it’s great to see shoppers starting to put more in their baskets again,” said Zwolinski.
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