Aisles of Options: Grocery Trip Purchase Influences

FACT: The path to purchase for consumer packaged goods has become a lot more complex in the last decade as digital technologies have provided shoppers with an ever-growing supply of touchpoints and sales channels for learning about, and buying, products.FACT: Nearly all trips to buy groceries are now influenced to some degree by the use of these digital technologies.FACT: Despite those two facts, product marketers still have plenty of opportunities to influence purchase decisions within the brick-and-mortar store – where the vast majority of grocery trips are still taking place.That final fact is derived directly from the findings of the Path to Purchase Institute’s latest proprietary research, which surveyed 1,000 consumers from across the U.S. about their most recent trip to buy groceries. (Members: Review the complete research results.)While the shopper commerce industry has been – quite understandably – focused on the pandemic-fueled shift to online shopping and ordering that has taken place since March 2020 and the corresponding rise in importance of retail media networks within the marketing playbook, the traditional store clearly remains the destination of choice for most grocery needs and very fertile ground for influencing purchase decisions.How clearly? Respondents were asked at the outset of the survey if their most recent efforts to buy groceries took place online or in a store, and the latter was the case for 86% of them. What’s more, a significant number of respondents who did shop online ended up going into the store when they went to pick up their orders. (More about that later.)And once they’re in the store, shoppers are being influenced by many of the standard P-O-P materials that have been driving purchase decisions since long before the term “shopper marketing” was even coined. So as marketers keep pace with evolving consumer behavior by enhancing their ability to engage with shoppers and drive sales through digital channels, they also need to maintain the in-store presence that, according to the research, remains critical to brand success.The following article evaluates some of the more noteworthy highlights from the survey, the latest in a series of special reports that the Institute will conduct in 2021. Institute members have access to a more comprehensive set of results, including data at the channel, product and retailer level.Planning the TripFor anyone who might glance at the survey’s methodology (see sidebar) and dismiss the dominance of brick-and-mortar trips on the fact that 63% of survey respondents were old-school Baby Boomers and their parents, consider this: only 25% of younger shoppers overall – and just 11% of Generation Z respondents – conducted their most recent trips online.But while physical stores continue to dominate as the destination of choice, supermarkets no longer corner the market on grocery trips like they once did. Still, the “OG” channel was the chosen format for 55% of shoppers, followed by mass merchants at 27% (see Chart 1).And by “mass merchant,” we mean “Walmart.” The world’s largest retailer gained 23% of all the shopping trips captured in the survey, the latest evidence of its superiority in the CPG world. The only other retailer getting more than 10% of the action was Kroger, which earned 11% across its flagship, Harris Teeter, King Soopers and Smith’s chains. Walmart’s nearest mass-merchant rival, Target, trailed by 300 shoppers (Chart 2).That leaves 14% of shoppers who made their most recent grocery purchase online, as noted earlier. Within that group, 60% opted to take complete advantage of the channel by fulfilling their order through home delivery. Among the 40% who instead ventured to the store to pick up their items, 28% (roughly 16 shoppers, for perspective) used the opportunity to keep shopping – and not just to quickly grab milk or eggs, apparently: the average purchase was an additional 7.2 items (Chart 3).Pre-trip planning is, naturally, common for grocery trips that encompass significantly large basket sizes in most cases (see more later). More than half of all shoppers (online or in-store) assessed their inventory beforehand, and 44% prepared a written shopping list. That behavior is significantly more likely among in-store shoppers than it is for their online counterparts – who, quite logically, are instead creating digital lists (Chart 4).Similarly, and not surprisingly, pre-trip behavior does vary substantially between online and in-store shoppers. The online cohort is far more likely to conduct “research” by checking out ratings and reviews, comparing prices, searching for recipes, specifically looking for product information or scanning the digital circular. In general, online shoppers do more planning than their brick-and-mortar brethren, who only undertook two other behaviors more often: reading print circulars and collecting print coupons. In-store stoppers also are more likely to do “nothing” before starting their trip (Chart 4).Although almost none of these actions were employed by a majority of shoppers (aside from the pantry check), they all had a significant effect on the ultimate purchase decisions of those who did partake. At least 40% of shoppers claimed “a lot of influence” from any of the activities they undertook, which suggests that these behaviors are likely habits that have already proved to be helpful (Chart 5).Meanwhile, shoppers did not recall being exposed to much media advertising before or during their trip, with exactly half professing to have seen anything related to the products they ultimately purchased. However, the more task-oriented online shoppers were somewhat more likely to have encountered messages via social media, TV, mobile apps and digital ads in general (Chart 6).The Best Laid Plans … ChangeShoppers bought an average of 23.3 items during their most recent grocery trip, which gives this survey a greater focus on classic “stock-up” grocery shopping behavior as opposed to the single-purchase “spearfishing” habits that are such an integral part of e-commerce.On average, in-store shoppers put three more items in their basket than did online shoppers, who conversely were significantly more likely to buy only a few products (Chart 7).It would seem that many shoppers still find a store visit well worth it when a trunk-load of products is needed, but might be using e-commerce to save them a trip for just a few things.One of the most important data points emerging from the survey is that 78% of shoppers attest to making decisions about which products to buy during their trip. While “the last mile” of product delivery has garnered most of the industry discussion lately, it would appear that “the last three feet” remains important as well.These “unplanned” shopper purchases encompass an array of different actions:Choosing a different size or variety of the product they intended to buy.Buying a larger quantity of the product.Substituting the intended purchase with an alternative product (like choosing ground turkey instead of ground beef).Switching brands.On top of all those decisions, 62% of shoppers say they bought at least one product that they hadn’t at all intended to purchase. In fact, shoppers added an average of nearly three (2.9) impulse purchases to their baskets (Chart 8).Overall, roughly 40% of the items purchased were unplanned in some form. While the average amount was relatively the same in-store and online (8.9 vs. 9.2 items), brick-and-mortar shoppers bought more impulse items (3.1 vs. 1.8). That fact validates the concerns of marketers in impulse purchase categories about the impact that the e-commerce shift is having on their sales.The reasons for these switches are numerous, and start with the more obvious ones: 46% of shoppers changed their minds when they encountered a different product on sale, and 40% selected an alternative when finding their planned purchase out of stock (Chart 9).But rest assured, dear readers, that marketing is having an impact as well. Online, almost one-third of shoppers (27%) responded to a recommendation made at checkout and 11% by ads on the retailer’s website, in addition to sales and special offers.In stores, almost half of shoppers (46%) who deviated from their original plans were persuaded to do so, at least in part, by a display or sign. The highly coveted endcap display topped the options in terms of impact from P-O-P materials at 30%, but displays in other locations also made their mark (Chart 11).Among the shoppers who identified displays as a purchase influencer, equal numbers (40%) were influenced by endcaps and secondary displays in the same aisle as the product’s category set. In general, displays had a slightly greater impact at mass merchants (again, mostly Walmart) than at supermarkets (Chart 11). Of the shoppers influenced by displays and signs, roughly half were swayed either by the communicated price or the simple fact that the display reminded them of their need for that product (Chart 10).Other triggers covered a variety of P-O-P collateral, including signs in multiple locations, product packaging and even the relatively rare floor graphic. The fact that 7% of brick-and-mortar shoppers were also swayed by product samples is a good indicator that the tactic is gradually returning to the store environment after largely disappearing during the height of the pandemic.In addition to the overt impact of P-O-P materials acknowledged by shoppers, and while it might be stating the obvious, here is another point to consider: There had to be some visible, tangible mechanism through which 46% of shoppers learned about the sale and 32% discovered the special offer that ultimately altered their purchase plans. In an omnichannel world, there certainly is a chance that the deals were communicated digitally – Institute research published in March, in fact, found that 12% of shoppers utilize the retailer’s website or app while shopping in the physical store. In most cases, however, it’s probably safe to assume there was a display or sign involved.There also is at least some circumstantial evidence that in-store purchase triggers can lend a hand in driving future sales: Of the 78% of shoppers who made some type of unplanned purchase during their most recent grocery trip, an eye-popping 90% said they will consider repurchasing the alternative rather than the product they originally intended to buy. A well-placed display today, therefore, could lead to a loyal shopper tomorrow.So while climbing to the top of search results has become critical to success, it’s important for brands to remember that staying prominent within the physical store remains crucial as well.

Aisles of Options: Grocery Trip Purchase Influences

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