U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2014

Description:

A rapidly changing industry needs consistent metrics to evaluate change, and FMI has long supported U.S. food retailers through annual surveys of shopper behaviors and attitudes. This year, FMI worked with the Hartman Group to supplement our U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends research perspective with a cultural lens, interviewing Americans in their homes and while shopping, and drawing upon ethnographic research into U.S. food consumption and consumers. The aim this year has been to better understand why individual food shoppers make the decisions they do and how their attitudes and piecemeal behaviors translate into large-scale shifts that affect supermarket revenues and growth. Analysis this year therefore examined a more food-relevant context and introduced some new angles for understanding retail industry dynamics. This year’s study has illuminated several important shifts in the consumer universe and yielded some important implications for food retailers. 1. A diversification of the “primary store” as a touchstone of shopper behavior 2. A fragmentation of the “primary shopper” role within households 3. A generational transformation in what “planning” means to food shoppers 4. A re-orientation of consumer attitudes around wellness, with fresh, less processed taking center stage 5. An opening for food retailers to become trusted allies in helping shoppers navigate food and wellness