Southern Man, Get Thee To The Supermarket

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Southern Man, Get Thee To The Supermarket
ACNielsen Releases Shopper Trends – Southern Men Don’t Shop

Wellington has the highest percentage of households where men are the main shopper while South Island men lag behind, according to a recent ACNielsen Shopper Trends survey.

In Wellington households, men are the main shoppers in 27 percent of households. In Auckland, 24 percent of the main household shoppers are male but the South Island shows a more traditional division of labour where only 14 percent of the main household shoppers being male.

The awareness and usage of private labels or housebrands is now firmly established in the minds of Kiwi consumers. Only seven percent of those surveyed said that they were unaware of house brands, and 87 percent of respondents had purchased housebrands in the previous four weeks.

While the serious shoppers’ instinct says shop-till-you-drop 24/7, the Kiwi consumer’s body is only willing to shop within normal business hours, it seems. Despite the trend for inner city supermarkets to be open twenty-four hours a day, most shopping occurs between 11am-5pm (59%). Thursday is the most popular day of the week to shop (17%) and Sunday is the least popular (11%).

And when it comes time to deciding where to buy the food and groceries, new shopping habits may have crept up on us more than we might think.
Some 20 percent of shoppers had used an Asian grocery in the last four weeks. This previously unmeasured category is one to watch, particularly in larger cities.

Yet, some old habits die hard. Although the Service Station sector has made major improvements in performance and range of goods, 27 percent of shoppers will not use them for food and grocery purchasing, despite 40 percent of shoppers having used a service station in the last week. Some 55 percent of those surveyed had used a convenience store or dairy in the last week, compared with 96 percent of those surveyed having used a supermarket.

However, some 37 percent of those surveyed said they had used the Warehouse in the last week. The Warehouse clearly has the opportunity to sell groceries to its loyal, regular shoppers, and it appears to be testing the waters with recently introduced lines such as bread and milk.

The trend for specialist food retailers continues to grow. A significant 47 percent of shoppers said they had used a specialist fruit and vegetable shop in the last week, 29 percent had used a butcher or fish shop and 33 percent had used a baker. Conversely, it seems specialist liquor stores are facing tough competition from other retailers, with only 14 percent of shoppers saying they had used a liquor store in the past week. In some areas this has prompted specialist retailers to take sites adjacent to other complimentary stores, so that consumers can find a greengrocer, butcher, fish shop, baker and liquor store in the same area.

About ACNielsen

ACNielsen, a VNU company, is the world’s leading marketing information company. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the company provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behaviour. Clients rely on ACNielsen’s market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.

For further information, please visit http://www.acnielsen.co.nz

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