More than half of all Brits are noticing the increasing cost of their weekly grocery basket in the last six months, new figures have revealed.
Research by NielsenIQ has identified five new consumer groups across the UK, based on the pandemic’s economic impact on their financial security and associated spending patterns. These include the strugglers (19%), the rebounders (22%), the cautious (35%), the unchanged (16%), and the thrivers (8%).
All consumer types have been noticing rising grocery prices, with 16% of all UK consumers having taken a radical approach and stopped buying certain products completely.
The biggest consumer group to make such changes is the strugglers (21%) – those who have been experiencing job or income loss – slightly below the global total for this consumer group (23%).
According to the most recent data, 21% of all UK shoppers select the lowest-priced product irrespective of brand, with this figure climbing to 27% for strugglers.
Meanwhile, thrivers are the least likely to make this choice, with 13% saying they choose to stick to their preferred brand (13%) irrespective of price.
What’s more, thrivers are the most likely to buy whatever brand is on promotion (21%), followed by the cautious (19%).
Thrivers are also more inclined (19%) to wait until their preferred products are on promotion to buy, just behind the strugglers (20%).
In line with the global total (69%), in-store grocery shopping at a hypermarket or supermarket remains the preferred method for UK consumers (61%), rising to 66% across the cautious (those who did not see an impact on financial security but are still cautious with spending), unchanged (consumers with no impact on their financial security and continue to spend as they normally did) and thriver groups.
However, when it comes to ordering online, this is most popular among the strugglers, with a combined total of 84% either ordering groceries online for delivery or pick-up at either a supermarket, local traditional store or from a pure-player like Amazon, NielsenIQ found.
This is above the global total (83%) as well as the overall UK total figure (66%), it added.
“The last two years have seen an unprecedented level of uncertainty for consumers and the war in the Ukraine has only exacerbated sentiment about rising cost of living and inflation,” Rachel White, Managing Director, NielsenIQ UK and Ireland, said.
“In order to adapt to how consumers are reacting, retailers and manufacturers will need to forge new strategies and reinvent portfolios as they navigate these changing needs and priorities of a divided consumer landscape.”
