Study Surveys Recession-Driven Behavior

Lakewood, Colo. and Irving, Texas -- It's no secret the recession has changed shopper attitudes and behavior. What's less understood is which of these changes will revert back to "normal" when the economy recovers, and which are here to stay.A yearlong shopper experience study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research is providing such insights. Data for the study, released in installments called "The Checkout: Inside the In-Store Experience," came from a series of national, online omnibus surveys, each querying 1,200 consumers. The study ended this month. An executive summary will be on www.shopperculture.com, where all eight installments are available for download.Responses over time revealed fluctuations as well as consistencies in presumably recession-driven behavior. "Trends are emerging, some of which appear to be transient, while others likely will stick," says Craig Elston, senior vice president of insight and strategy at Integer.One consistent learning is that shoppers have adopted new attitudes around how they perceive "value." The concept has become more price-oriented and has less to do with getting a "good deal" on a quality product than getting a low price, period. "We're talking about the lowest everyday price," Elston says. "The percentage of shoppers who are more concerned with price than quality is ticking up."As of August 2009, shoppers in the survey were consistently adopting new deal-seeking behaviors (see chart at right), including using store circulars and coupons more often to scope out and score deals (41% and 43%, respectively) and reading packaging or signage more to compare prices (42%). In September, 59% of respondents said they were buying fewer and cheaper items. By December, shoppers were still reporting spending as little as possible and putting off buying staples.A related trend that's likely to stick is the rise in popularity of private labels. Nearly one in five respondents said they are "buying more and will stick with them," Elston says. Only 10% claimed they expected to go back to national brands, according to the survey (see chart at right).By contrast, responses in some areas did not hold steady. For example, early results revealed a rise in shoppers seeking convenience over value. "As we started the year, we saw a greater shopper focus on convenience and had a higher number of shoppers willing to spend more money if it saved them time," says Randy Wahl, executive vice president and director of advanced analytics for M/A/R/C. "As the study progressed, we saw the focus shift to value."In fact, later data suggested that "People are increasingly prepared to drive past one store to go to another where they feel they get a better value," Elston says.Convenience still matters a great deal in-store, though. Shoppers want to find things easily and get in and out quickly, and they are reading packages more than usual, Elston says. Interestingly, when asked which "shopping aids" they used to help them shop, manufacturers' coupons came out on top, outranking directional signage, on-shelf messaging and store employees. "The claimed use of coupons is quite surprising," jumping to 51% in August from 42% in February, Elston says. "That's a relatively big swing." Elston says the yearlong study provides some baselines and benchmarks for further research, but what emerged at best were patterns, short-term trends and indicators that certain recession-era attitudes have become ingrained. "If the good times start to roll again, it will be interesting to see if they actually stick," he says.One potential trend: A significant change in data revealed that people enjoy shopping less. Elston says the survey showed a 10% drop from June to August in how many respondents saw shopping as a way to relax, and a 12% decline in respondents who said they enjoy exploring stores. Elston believes this means shoppers are beginning to think of shopping as a chore, with consumers doing online price investigation, downloading coupons and making shopping lists.

Study Surveys Recession-Driven Behavior

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