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Grocery customers battle high prices by cutting back

More than 7 of 10 shoppers opt to buy fewer items to save money, Morning Consult finds

Russell Redman

October 24, 2022

4 Min Read
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Of grocery shoppers polled by Morning Consult, 72% report that they’re purchasing fewer items because of concern over pricing, and 24% said they do this often.The Kroger Co.

Many grocery shoppers are embracing a simple strategy for combatting high food price inflation: Don’t buy as much.

Of about 2,000 U.S. adults with primary or shared food shopping responsibilities for their households, 72% report that they’re purchasing fewer items because of concern over elevated grocery inflation, according to a survey by data intelligence firm Morning Consult. That’s up from 64% in October 2021 and represents the same percentage as those who said they’re specifically worried about high grocery inflation versus inflation overall.

“The share of U.S. adults who say they are ‘very concerned’ about grocery inflation has remained high, even outpacing concern over inflation in general since Morning Consult began tracking in July,” Emily Moquin, food and beverage analyst at Morning Consult, wrote in a report on the poll findings which cover primarily the month of September. “Heightened concern over prices in this category is understandable, given that food represents the second-largest monthly expenditure for most people, behind only housing. Plus, the Consumer Price Index for food-at-home was up 13% year over year in September as prices for groceries continued to spike amid high demand and supply chain disruptions.”

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Among grocery shoppers saying they’re putting fewer items in their cart or basket to save money, 19% report doing so rarely, 47% sometimes and 24% often. The share of those frequently opting to buy fewer products in order to save rose from 15% in October 2021, whereas respondents saying they do so sometimes dipped by one percentage point and consumers doing so rarely declined by 8 percentage points.

Related:Shoppers fine-tune holiday grocery spending plans

Other tactics cited by consumers to mitigate high grocery pricing include compare prices (83%), buy generic or store brands (81%), use coupons (65%), buy less meat (64%), shop at multiple stores (63%) and buy in bulk (62%).

“Amid widespread concern, shoppers are employing myriad tactics to save on grocery bills. In our latest survey, 82% of shoppers said they at least sometimes made an effort to save on groceries in the past month because of inflation,” Moquin explained in her analysis. “Consumers have consistently relied on these tactics, but recently a growing number have been employing a different approach: buying less overall.”

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Unsurprisingly, lower-income households are more likely to cut back on grocery purchases as they feel inflation’s squeeze on their pocketbooks. For example, 27% of those surveyed with annual income of less than $50,000 said they often buy fewer items to save money, compared with 21% of those making $50,000 to $99,999 a year and with 19% of those with annual income of $100,000 or more.

Related:September CPI brings little respite in food inflation

“This behavior is most common among people from lower-income households, who are more likely to have to stay within a monthly budget than higher earners. But those in the highest income range, earning at least $100,000 annually, are also 6 percentage points more likely to say they often buy less,” according to Moquin. “Age also plays a factor in determining who is most likely to rely on this particular cost-cutting behavior. Surprisingly, Gen Xers, not younger generations, are the most likely to report buying fewer items. Financial stress is weighing heavily on these adults.”

Consumer concern about rising prices also has spread to more categories across the store, she noted. The share of respondents worried about elevated prices remains the highest in meat ( 3 points from October 2021) and produce ( 5 points). Yet that concern has jumped in dairy ( 10 points), beverages ( 10 points), pantry items ( 9 points) and ingredients ( 8 points).

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“Initially, consumers’ concerns centered on the categories they purchased the most frequently and where price increases may have been the most obvious. Nearly a year ago, high shares of consumers expressed concerns about rising prices in categories representing a greater dollar share of people’s grocery carts, like meat and produce,” Moquin observed. “Now, as prices have risen across the store, concern has also risen in less frequently purchased categories and categories that have experienced the most price growth.”

In the food-at-home segment, the sharpest 12-month price hikes for September came from cereals and bakery products ( 16.2%), dairy and related products (15.9%) and other food at home ( 15.7%). Of the remaining major grocery store food groups, year-over-year increases were 12.9% for nonalcoholic beverages; 10.4% for fruit and vegetables; and 9% for meat, poultry, fish and eggs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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