Shoppers’ profile Survey in supermarkets
The Total Business research on the profile of buyers in supermarkets entitled: ‘THETOTALBUSINESS Research “The supermarket buyers’ tribes and their characteristics’
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
During the quarantine, supermarkets proved to be the absolute, and sometimes the only destination for shopping and ‘going out’, when nothing else was open.
Much has been said about the changes that took place in the industry and what changes will remain in the future. THETOTALBUSINESS, and the strategic research firm Long Lust, conducted a nationwide quantitative survey* to investigate what are the ‘tribes’ of supermarket buyers at this time, what are their demands and how they buy, how they evaluate different supermarket chains, what about online shopping, and what all this means for supermarkets and retailers at a strategic level.
In the next 3 parts we will present some previews of the research findings and soon we will present the entire study with more details and analyzes.
Today the topic we present is the Tribes of supermarket buyers and their characteristics.
Supermarket customers are divided into 3 major categories depending on what ideally they are looking for **:
1) Those who want Variety and Unique products
2) Those looking for Offers and Affordable prices
3) Those for whom the most important is the Warm environment and Friendly service.
In essence, the market is almost equally divided into:
Variety and Uniqueness Seekers
Price and Promotions Seekers
Atmosphere and Service Seekers
While the above may sounds logical and somehow expected, it is interesting to examine the profile of each category and what it means for supermarkets and retailers
VARIETY & UNIQUENESS SEEKERS
They are 35% of the sample and are comparatively younger in age. Their income is comparatively higher than average.
They are attracted to supermarket environments that offer different services (eg bakery, grocery store, butcher shop) and to the opportunity to find unique and different products.
They dislike queues, waiting and not being able to find what they are looking for in the store. It is remarkably interesting that, the limited variety of products or brands does not irritate them at all, that is, what they are ideally looking for in a supermarket is not a cause for dissatisfaction if it is not offered realistically.
They do not seem to be interested in offering cheap products at all and this fact is linked with their income status. Also, these consumers have turned more massively to the online supermarket purchases during the last period, and this is linked with their young age.
The supermarkets Bazaar, OK Anytime Markets and Kritikos attract more of these buyers than their competitors.
PRICE AND PROMOTIONS SEEKERS
They make up 36% of the population and the age distribution is isomeric. Their income is relatively low.
The existence of very cheap products is the absolute priority for this group, it is something that is of interest to 100% of the segment. 1 in 2 also wants a lot of different services in the supermarket.
Queues and waiting make them very unhappy, as well as not finding what they want in the store. Compared to other tribes they are more irritated by the lack of markings and information on the shelf (prices, weight), as well as, by the lack of offers.
Also this group has comparatively more visits to the store per week compared to the average of the sample (2.60 / week vs 2.35) while compared to the other groups their purchases are less predetermined and more spontaneous.
Lidl, My Market, Market IN and Galaxias are, in this order, the supermarkets with the larger concentration of these buyers.
ATMOSPHERE & SERVICE SEEKERS
They make up 29% of the population and are comparatively older. Their income distribution is isomeric within the segment.
They are primarily interested in service quality and follows their need for a warm and friendly environment to a much greater degree than the other 2 segments.
The messiness is what irritates them the most in a supermarket along with the poor service.
OK Anytime Markets and Masoutis have a comparatively higher concentration of these buyers.
The 2 largest chains, Sklavenitis and AB Vassilopoulos have a more even distribution of their customers between the 3 triber. The challenge for them is that they will have to implement a more multi-level strategy to meet the needs of all segments, which they probably already do to some extent judging by their market shares.
The other chains that have a higher concentration in a specific segment, have the opportunity to implement more ‘one-dimensional’ strategies.
It is also interesting to mention that between the 3 segments there are no big differences in the amounts they spend monthly in the supermarket markets. All three seem to be equally attractive in this respect.
Undoubtedly, understanding the segments of buyers is also important for retailers. If a brand e.g. is value oriented can prioritize the channels that are most effective to be present and the same goes for products that are more special and different. Apart from the distribution, and the below the line communication within the store can be configured more effectively for the brands if for example we are in chains where they are particularly preferred by Atmosphere & Service Seekers.
You can learn more about Long Lust through its site and its corporate presentation.
* The survey was conducted using an electronic questionnaire lasting 10 minutes, between 22-29 April 2021. The sample is nationwide and consists of 1000 people over 18 years who gave us their opinion voluntarily.
The methodology for exploring buyer categories includes two questions / poles. The first concerns the characteristics of the ideal store and the second the characteristics that irritate the buyer in a store. The data from these 2 questions were analyzed with the help of a machine learning algorithm that grouped the respondents in 2 stages: first by comparing & matching the ideals with the negative characteristics and then by sorting the bases of the similarity of the answers. The result is a clear presentation of the distinct needs of each type of buyer, which could be a reliable and useful strategy basis.
Source:thetotalbusiness.com/