CHICAGO — A slight decline in shopping frequency and a decrease in consumer satisfaction with supermarkets signal significant challenges ahead for the industry, said Michael Sansolo, senior vice president, Food Marketing Institute, at the FMI Show here yesterday. The association’s annual “Trends” study of consumer behavior and attitudes found that shoppers said they visited supermarkets an average of 1.9 times per week in 2007, down from 2.2 times in 2005 and 2.1 times in 2006. “Consumers have more choices about where to shop, and it’s changed the way they shop,” he said. In addition, shoppers’ satisfaction with supermarkets, on a scale of one to 10, slipped from 8.1 to 7.9. Sansolo attributed the decline to the series of food safety issues that have cropped up during the past nine months or so. Quoting a Wharton School of Business professor, Sansolo said, “You could make the argument that the shopper is beginning to question how good we are.”
