Shopper research

Shopping behaviour today and tomorrow

Shoppers have shifted to more conservative shopping habits vs. last year, and expect to carry these habits forward in 2023 (more planning, less browsing, more stock-ups).

Coping with inflation

More than three-quarters of shoppers have changed their shopping behaviour in some way to cope with inflation; the most popular strategies are buying items on clearance and making fewer impulse purchases.

Buying items on reduced price/clearance

Buying fewer impulse items

Buying more private-label products

Shopping more often at discount grocery stores

Buying fewer prepared foods

Buying fewer fresh produce items

Buying cheaper animal proteins

Private label powers up

Shopping Today And Tomorrow

Given the economic pressures Canadians are contending with, it stands to reason that they’re demonstrating more conservative shopping behaviours compared to last year. In fact, more shoppers report they’re planning their trips to the store, they’re stocking up, are spending less time browsing the aisles and are less inclined to add impulse items to their baskets. Shoppers also expect they’ll maintain these habits through 2023.

To cope with high costs, shoppers also appear to be leaning into home cooking and flexible meal plans to manage their food budgets. The survey revealed 57% of shoppers are cooking more from scratch, up 11% from last year, with 59% anticipating they’ll continue to do so. Perhaps another sign of the times is the growing popularity of private label; according to the survey, more shoppers (32% vs. 21% a year ago) say they’re buying store brands and predict they’ll buy them at a similar level going forward. The top reasons shoppers give for purchasing private label are to save money (76% compared to 69% last year) and they feel the quality of these items is similar to name brands.

WHAT’S IN THE BASKET?

Canadians continue to load up on fresh with 86% of shoppers purchasing dairy and fresh produce in the past month, with nearly three-quarters reporting to have added fresh meat and seafood to their carts, consistent with last year. Notable shifts were observed in frozen foods with significantly more shoppers buying them this year (63% vs. 58%) as well as confectionery (51% vs. 31%) and prepared foods (42% vs. 34%) indicating, perhaps, that shoppers are turning

What’s on the list?

to affordable luxuries in tough times. Among the non-edible products purchased at grocery stores, paper products remain the most purchased items, however, over-the-counter medications and pet supplies saw the biggest increases over last year at 32% (up 6%) and 17% (up 5%), respectively.

On average, Canadian shoppers reported spending about $112 on their most recent grocery trip, up slightly from $109 a year ago. When asked about changes they’ve made to cope with inflation, more than three-quarters indicated they’ve adjusted their shopping habits in some way. Among the top strategies used by shoppers: buying clearance items, fewer impulse items, more private label, and shopping more frequently at discount grocery stores. Looking at it through a generational lens, the survey revealed that boomers are significantly more likely than millennials and generation-Xers to report no changes to their shopping habits.

Significant growth in purchases of frozen foods, confectionery and prepared foods vs. last year.

The enduring shopping list

Two-thirds of shoppers still rely on a core shopping list, but don’t necessarily stick to it.

66%

Make a list and make additional purchases

16%

Do not make a list, but have a rough idea of what to purchase

15%

Make a list and only purchase what is on the list

3%

Do not make a list and decide what to buy while at the store

Paper

Laundry

Personal

Pet

OTC

Prescription

Beauty products

Flowers/plants

Office

Books/magazines

Toys/games

Statistically significantly higher/lower at the 95% confidence level vs. last year

Shopper satisfaction with grocery store services

Trial of grocery ordering and payment tech is up significantly vs. last year; self-checkout remains the most commonly used and has the highest satisfaction level.