Shoppers who buy vodka are likely to put other drinks in the basket too

Nielsen’s Retail Index reveals that discount stores realised 17 percent of value sales in the 90 food categories measured in the December 2009-May 2010 period. As for the 60 household chemical and cosmetics categories, discount stores covered 10 percent of value sales in May 2009-April 2010. In connection with discount store sales market players may ask the questions: Which other categories do the shoppers of my category buy? Let us see a foreign case study. In a Polish discount store we found some kind of beer in 16 percent of shopping baskets – the contribution of these baskets to the chain’s turnover was higher at 19 percent. The same study found that 18 percent of vodka buyers bought beer as well, 15 percent of them purchased fruit juice or drink, 13 put carbonated soft drinks in their basket and 8 percent bought mineral water.
From this we can draw the conclusion that it is worth placing these products close to each other in the store or even to promote them by packaging together. The so-called ‘lift factor’ indicates the probability of finding a product next to a certain product in the basket if compared with a general basket; for instance, it is 88 percent more probable that a vodka buyer purchases wine as well. In the examined Polish discount store those who bought branded products in certain categories spent 85 percent more than average customers.