Nathalie Spielmann
Understanding the Canadian Grocery Shopper
By Nathalie Spielmann
As consumers, we make choices everyday and during every shopping excursion. For some the choice of store is one that goes without much thought, a convenience decision. For others, there is deep processing of the offering, the distance to the store, the price comparisons, the other stores in the vicinity, etc. Marketers have long sought out to measure what leads a consumer to one store versus another and which factors are the most important in predicting consumer behaviour.
First and foremost, unlike other consumer products, it is important to note that food is a daily need that needs to be fulfilled, and therefore store choice can be shaped by this need. Refrigerators will need to be filled more often and with more urgency than closets with will be with designer clothing. When the fridge is empty and so is the stomach, the decision as to where and what to buy can be drastically different than when one is satiated.
Food shopping can be a task to accomplish like it can be a full fledged culinary activity, especially if consumers are looking for specialty products. Product and store choice can also be based on need. A strongly positioned store (specific brands, hard-to-find products, trendy product lines, etc) for a consumer would certainly warrant a longer drive or increased desire to make time to patronize it.
When we use the marketing mix to evaluate consumers’ food shopping habits, we review the 4 Ps: place, promotion, product, and price. We can confirm just by observing our own behaviours that other than promotional lures, there are other impacting variables, such as store format, location, coupons, store offer, service quality that can influence our desires to shop as well as our evaluation of the food shopping experience. And at the core, it can boil down to basic socio-demographics.
Retailers everywhere are trying to capitalize on the Canadian wallet. Purchasing food is no longer possible in just one type of retail outlet. The fridge can now be filled with products purchased in locations as obvious as the supermarket and as obscure as the drug store. Food availability is not the issue, and there are acceptable items to be found to fit all budgets. One look at the multiple flyers we get every week and a glance at the panoply of product permutations on the shelves confirms this. And the reason the market has evolved to this point is because there is an increase in the desires and needs to be quenched by an also ever increasing number of segments of the Canadian population that are buying food and for different reasons.
At the core of the market dynamics are the Baby Boomerr. They have the money and time to explore the variety of flavours and multiple world cuisines as well as indulge their epicurean curiosity. And these individuals differ greatly from the student shoppers who, as compared to the average population, will prioritize value over novelty when it comes to grocery products.
To make sense of how the market moves, numerous efforts have been made in order to understand who is shopping and how. The Print Measurement Bureau (PMB) offers four sub categories of grocery shoppers, each with their distinct features. The Budget Family Shoppers (22% of population) are traditionalists who make it a point to have meals at home and thus they plan their grocery shopping. They aren’t impressed by branded products and seek out cost benefits over anything else. The Brand Central shoppers (21% of population) are more conservative in nature and trust brands while preferring healthier foods – probably related to their older age profile. Interestingly enough, while they are not part of the richest strata of the population, they likely to spend the most on their groceries. Premium Convenience (26% of population) love the idea of meal time but don’t have the motivation to prepare it. They love gourmet and fine products but need them to be accessible and easy to procure. They don’t check the flyers, nor their budget,s and they don’t even make an effort to prioritize healthier options - as long as it’s there and tasty, it goes in the cart. Finally, the Eat 'n Run crowd (20% of population) is just as it is described. These youngsters aren’t involved in their eating habits, don’t like to be in the kitchen and are some of the prized patrons of chain restaurants, especially of the burger and fries variety.
Absent from the aforementioned definitions however is the cultural layer that is so inherent to Canadians. With each culture comes different mannerisms and approaches to food shopping. Consumers in Canada shop in a completely different fashion than those in Vietnam for example, where traditional bazaars are the norm. In countries like China, where the supermarket was only introduced in the early 1980s, the familiarity and attraction to such retail formats is completely different than that of Canadian consumers, of which almost 60% shop at grocery stores. In contrast, only 24% of Canadians shop in public markets whereas 90% of purchases in Vietnam are made in traditional outlets such as bazaars and small family owned locations. So, and as an example, when Vietnamese and Chinese consumers shop within the Canadian distribution network, not only do their habits have the potential for influencing the offering on the shelves, but may also be a great reason for grocery stores to refocus the layout and even the feel given to the “typical| grocery store.
Consumers and their actions will always impact the bottom line. Having a better understanding for the perspectives they bring, the features they value, and the expectations that they have towards this retail environment should almost be primary to the secondary considerations of price and promotion, and should be considered in tandem to the place and the product definition.
All this to say that if we know who likes to eat a product and the reasons they appreciate it, then making it available at the right time and place, will most certainly trump the pricing restrictions (within limits) because there is much more value associated to appropriate product placement then any homogenous and sterile marketing pitch to the masses in a setting with no link to people or occasion.
We eat to live, so we shop to survive, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t seek to maximize enjoyment. And nothing tastes better than products tailored to our needs.
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