Skip navigation

SUPERMARKETS KEEPING NONFOOD SHOPPERS: POLL

Supermarkets appear to be holding on to their general merchandise shoppers. In an exclusive SN consumer survey, more than one in five respondents said they were buying more general merchandise from supermarkets now than in the past. This response was identical to that in a similar survey in 1995. This was the third telephone survey of 1,000 consumers nationwide conducted for SN by America's Research

Supermarkets appear to be holding on to their general merchandise shoppers. In an exclusive SN consumer survey, more than one in five respondents said they were buying more general merchandise from supermarkets now than in the past. This response was identical to that in a similar survey in 1995. This was the third telephone survey of 1,000 consumers nationwide conducted for SN by America's Research Group, Charleston, S.C., March 20 to 25.

mber predicting they would buy the same amount of general merchandise also rose, from 48.3% in 1995 to 51.9% this year.

Price Dictates Purchases

The most important consideration shoppers gave for nonfood purchases continues to be price, and the cost of goods is important to more people than ever. Last year slightly more than half the survey, 51%, listed price as the most important consideration in nonfood purchases. In this year's survey, the number of respondents saying they considered price the most important factor jumped to 55.7%. The importance of selection showed a 0.7% increase over last year, while the value of convenience and special offers declined during the year.

Impulse Purchases Show Increase

Consumers showed a tendency toward more impulse purchases during their supermarket shopping trip, the survey showed. The percentage of impulse or nonplanned purchases made by shoppers rose from 1995 to 1996. When asked how many supermarket purchases are made on impulse, those surveyed gave the following responses:

1995 1996

10% or less 39.5% 39.9%

20% 15.9% 18.3%

15% 13.9% 18.1%

25% 11.4% 12.3%

Video Sales Up Slightly

The number of shoppers reporting that they purchase home video from supermarkets rose less than a percentage point between 1995 and 1996 as supermarkets continue to lag significantly behind discount and specialty stores as a source for video sell-through purchases.

The survey found significant movement from discount to specialty stores as the first choice of video shoppers. Here are the responses for the 1995 and 1996 surveys when shoppers were asked their first choice for video purchases:

1995 1996

Discount Stores 52.9% 46.6%

Specialty Stores 27.9% 37.8%

Supermarkets 4.8% 5.7%

Video rentals, surprisingly, are growing at supermarkets, the survey indicated, as more Americans appear to be clamoring for take-home movies. This finding, however, goes against industry surveys in which video rental is seen as stagnating across all channels of distribution.

The number of those saying they are renting more video movies than before nearly doubled, from 10.7% in 1995 to 20.3% this year. The percentage of those renting fewer movies showed a sharp drop, from 45.6% last year to 33.4% in this year's survey. Nor does the upward trend in video rentals show any sign of waning. When asked if they expected to rent more or less video movies in the future, 13% of those surveyed predicted they would be renting more movies, up from the 1995 findings of 9.3% expecting to rent more movies. More than half of the respondents, 51.9%, said they would be renting the same number of movies, a jump of 3.2% from last year. Accordingly, the number expecting to rent fewer movies declined from 42% last year to 35.1% in this year's survey. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3%.

Price Drives Purchase [chart]

When it comes to buying nonfood, consumers indicated they are very price-conscious among other factors in their purchase decisions.

What Is Your Most Important Consideration When Making Nonfood Purchases?

1995 1996

Price 51% 55.7%

Selection 22% 22.7%

Convenience 17.6% 16.1%

Special Offers 9.4% 5.5%