American shoppers prefer locally produced and lower prices

A recent grocery shopping survey of consumers in 10 countries found that among American shoppers, 72 percent prefer to buy local food brands, 49 percent want nothing more than to “get in” and “get out” and 65 percent think items are overpriced. Global market intelligence company Synovate conducted the survey in Brazil, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Republic of Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and United States. It covered over 6,700 grocery shoppers.

Fifty-seven percent of American grocery shoppers do one big shopping trip a week, and 23 percent do one major buying excursion on a monthly basis. Americans and Malaysians are the least likely to shop for groceries daily, both at 4 percent.

Overall, most respondents chose the supermarket as the place they buy their groceries (64 percent), followed by big hypermarkets/superstores (37 percent) and local non-chain grocery stores (29 percent). The Dutch (97 percent) and Americans (89 percent) are the most likely to shop at supermarkets. Only 10 percent of Americans say they do their grocery shopping at superstores, while 23 percent claim to want a “one-stop-shop” where they can take care of their grocery and other retail needs.

Almost half (48 percent) of Americans would buy groceries online if they could be sure the service was secure and they would receive high quality products. Forty-four percent of Americans also say that loyalty programs are an important incentive when deciding where to shop.

Hold the frills and prices

For all of the countries surveyed, overall, 40 percent of people say they are spending less than they did 12 months ago, including 39 percent of Americans. While 62 percent of people worldwide said they would readily switch food brands if they found a cheaper alternative, the French (81 percent) and Americans (78 percent) were the most likely to do this.

Over 75 percent of the survey participants indicated that grocery products are over-priced and should be cheaper, including 65 percent of U.S. consumers. Americans and the Dutch are clearly more “no-frills” when it comes to their grocery shopping experience.

“When it comes to grocery shopping the only kind of change Americans seem to want is the kind that goes in their wallet,” said Laurel Ashbrook, senior vice president of Consumer and Business Insights for Synovate. “They are not really interested in a modified format for stores and, in a still uncertain economy, the best bet for U.S. grocery retailers is to keep prices and frills to a minimum.”

 Increasing interest in sustainability

Sixty-two percent of consumers indicated they would go out of their way to shop at an environmentally-friendly supermarket. The interest in sustainability is led globally by 86 percent of Russians and 85 percent of Malaysians. The Dutch (18 percent) and Americans (22 percent) are least interested in this.

Across the 10 countries surveyed, 79 percent of respondents found the idea of recycling facilities in supermarkets and grocery stores interesting. Ninety percent of Brazilians (the highest among all markets surveyed) agreed it was a good idea compared to 72 percent of Americans.