“Consumers don’t just shop at one grocery store, they probably shop at five in any given week, in any given month,” said Carrie Smith, SVP at Franklin Street, during Placer.ai’s “Grocery Update: Opportunities and Challenges” webinar. This was just one key takeaway from the live online event, which was moderated by Ethan Chernofsky, VP of marketing for Placer.ai, and featured Smith and Jennifer Bartashus, senior equity research analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, as guest speakers.
The panel identified opportunities and challenges the grocery industry is facing today and analyzed new strategies some retailers are adopting. Read on to learn more.
Smith regarding “basket size, as fuel costs are driving less trips”:
“There’s a bigger drive to the private label brands, a bigger drive to look at what you’re spending your dollars on. You go to Target to buy one thing, but you walk out buying 20. That’s what they’re known for, and what they love. That is impactful to them,” Smith said.
But a challenge that many stores may be facing is how many need vs. want items consumers are going to be placing in their carts. “[Consumers] start changing your mind. Maybe I don’t need that tank top in addition to all of these groceries,” she said. “In terms of what you’re buying for your family, there’s not going to be a whole lot of change in that. Groceries are your essential way of life.”
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Smith regarding value-oriented chains and location:
“Consumers don’t just shop at one grocery store, they probably shop at five in any given week, in any given month,” Smith said. “Aldi and Lidl … they positioned themselves to be in great pieces of real estate right before a pandemic hit. They’re probably tapping into a consumer base that hadn’t tried them before.”
“Yes, we were shopping at the Kroger, and then we were going to Walmart, and then maybe we would go to Target, but were we going to the Aldi that just opened up right around the corner? I don’t know, I’m not so sure about that. But now are people trying it? Absolutely.
“[Value-oriented stores are] not shying away from being down the street from Publix or Kroger or Albertsons … they’re going right next door to them, because they know if and when the time comes, they’re going to get that consumer in the door. And so what they can do now, is they can capture that audience and try to keep them long term, so this is their moment. You get the consumer in the store once, and maybe you’ve created a consumer for life.”
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