Shopping has changed. Retailers are re-tooling their stores – Brands are trying to adjust
In March, when President Trump declared coronavirus a national emergency, food retail revenue soared over 25% from February, “collapsing more than eight years of dollar growth into a few weeks,” FMI said in a report. As of April, food retail revenue remained more than 10% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The retail surge also reversed long-term food spending trends, in which food retail had gradually declined since the early 1990s as foodservice crept up. Food retail’s share of food spending rose from 50% in February, to 63% in March, and then 68% in April according to the FMI study. Meanwhile, restaurants — forced to close or offer only takeout and/or delivery — saw their share of food retail spending drop from around 50% to roughly 35%.
The new shopper looks very different from the old one
Insights: New Shoppers
- Shop less often
- Visit fewer stores
- Spend more on each trip
- Use less time on each trip
- Are satisfied with smaller assortment
- Are prepared with a list
Some more details about shopper behavior:
- Just over 50% said they now want to “get in and out” of stores quickly, a goal only 13% said they had before the crisis hit. – Path To Purchase IQ
- 79% of shoppers are heading to the store with specific ingredients on their list – Path To Purchase IQ
- Nearly 50% of shoppers now identify themselves as trip planners, vs. fewer than 25% before the pandemic began – Path To Purchase IQ
- 86% of shoppers who encountered out-of-stocks tried a substitute brand. 43% of those shoppers indicated that they now prefer the newly tried brand. – Progressive Grocer
Supporting today’s in-store shopper means creating a safe, easy and efficient store environment. Bruegmann has the on-shelf merchandising solutions for a new in-store reality
- Fronting and Organization: Get the basics right keeping shelves well organized, fronted and shoppable at all times. FlexRoller and Bruegmann’s line of pushers do just that by automatically front-facing products to the shelf edge.
- Communication: Assist the shopper to making informed purchasing decisions with store guidance, education and on-shelf communication. Bruegmann’s range signage capabilities such as shelf cubes, shelf-edge strips and aisle markers help retailers guide and inform their customers.
- Cross-merchandising: Making shopping easy to sell more and increase basket size. Impulse strips make products available where they can be sold in combination with other relevant products.
