By: Nathalie Etori, Manager, Marketing, Food Marketing Institute
I remember driving in a snow storm to a newly built grocery store in my neighborhood just to see the automatic-light sensors in the freezer aisles. As I’ve gotten older, it’s become less about cool features in the aisles and more about how my grocery store helps me navigate my overall personalized purchasing needs.
My grocery habits seem to compare to today’s consumer. U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends reports today’s households are eating in increasingly personalized ways as they pursue individual aspirations for eating well, which heightens the already basic challenges of food shopping.
Consequently, shoppers enter the store tasked with meeting not only their needs and wants, but those of others in their household. It’s now on food retailers to customize and humanize the in-store shopping experience in a way that empowers different shoppers to meet these different needs within the store. For example, this may take the form of in-store specialty sections on health and well-being or shelf tags that provide in-depth product information.
According to Trends, 91% of U.S. adults are regular food shoppers. They are responsible for at least some of their household’s grocery shopping and have shopped in the past two weeks. Changing patterns in consumers’ lifestyles have brought more consumers into food outlets in search of their ideal mix of foods and beverages. Additionally, younger shoppers want their stores to deliver an engaging experience on many fronts, including convenience and discovery. For stores, this means creating a balancing act between inviting shoppers to linger in the store and enabling them to move in and out as quickly as they want.
Evolving consumer behaviors are compelling retailers to explore innovative store formats, while also investing in new refrigeration technologies and energy resources. So, how do food retail professionals build a blended shopping experience based on traditional and technological expectations? At the 2019 Energy and Store Development Conference from September 8 – 11 in Dallas, TX, attendees can learn more during "The Challenging Future of Supermarkets" session.
Learn more about the 2019 Energy and Store Development Conference
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