Rising food prices are prying shoppers from their favorite grocers

By: Kátai Ildikó Date: 2021. 05. 19. 11:09

Price has emerged as the top consideration for consumers when they decide where to shop for food, according to a survey conducted last week by Inmar Intelligence.

Áremelkedés

Roughly 68% of the 1,000 consumers Inmar surveyed on May 10 said they have started shopping at a retailer other than the one they have traditionally relied on for groceries because they perceive that prices have gone up.

Inflationary infidelity

Consumers are changing their shopping habits at food retailers based on price concerns even as government data show that food prices are increasing more slowly than the overall rate of inflation.

The survey fielded by Inmar makes it clear that people’s rising food bills are causing them to pay more attention to price when choosing items, even if that means abandoning their preferred retailer or becoming less wedded to products or brands they may have favored in the past, according to Grocery Dive publication.

Retaiers should break the price increase

The vast majority — almost 83% — of respondents said they are “actively looking” for ways to save money on groceries like less expensive ingredients. In addition, although just more than half of the survey participants said they recognize that conditions are challenging, 41% said they feel it’s up to retailers to find ways to keep prices from rising.

Nagyker ár

More than half of respondents said they have joined more than one grocery store loyalty program because prices are rising, and 52% said they are considering joining a wholesale club to cut down on food costs.

Árhőmérő The survey also found that almost 57% of shoppers view private label products as being of lower quality than name brands even though they sense that house brands tend to be less expensive. Still, in a reflection of the dominant role price sensitivity is playing in purchasing decisions, nearly 87% said they buy store brand items to save money.

Data and peception

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food-at-home spending was up 8.5% in 2020. The overall Consumer Price Index was up 0.8% in April on a month-over-month basis and surged 4.2% during the 12-month period ending in April — their biggest jump since 2008.