Shoppers look for value as prices spike

SHOPPER MARKETING       RESEARCH        NIELSEN

Regional - As inflation hits the FMCG sector, with half of sales increase this year coming from price hikes, consumers are looking more at non-price factors in their purchase decisions.

In Nielsen's Global Shopping and Saving Strategies Survey, done across Asia, 59% of more than 6,500 Internet respondents in 13 Asia Pacific countries rated "good value" over "low price" (56%) as the key factor influencing what and where they buy from.

Nielsen found a 14% increase in sales value for consumer goods products compared to the previous year, with half of the increase coming from price hikes.

Price increase has increasingly been driving the growth in sales value since the third quarter of last year, Nielsen continued in its report, saying that it has forced consumers to be more cautious in their spending and to be smarter in selecting where to shop.

Non-price factors such as good value, convenient location (57%), stock availability (50%) and variability (48%) were found to be regarded as desirable factors by consumers in Asia Pacific on deciding where to shop.

Low prices, though still influential, are no longer regarded as the most important for the majority of consumers in Asia Pacific countries, with only consumers in Indonesia (69%) and Malaysia (63%) considering this factor as the most influential reason when choosing a store.

Countries like Australia and New Zealand consider stock availability as important with 60% and 55% consumers, respectively, claiming this factor as the most influential reason.

"Consumers, who are faced with almost uniform pricing across all consumer goods retailers, are trying to maximise their shopping experience by finding non-price factors that will give them added value to the money they have to spend," Peter Gale, managing director of retailer services at Nielsen APMEA, said.

Consumers in 11 of 13 Asia Pacific countries have indicated buying items on sale as their preferred strategy when it comes to saving on household expenses. In particular, Malaysian consumers are the most prolific sale-seekers, followed by New Zealanders, Vietnamese, Australians and Singaporeans.

Consumers in Asia Pacific are more likely to try new flexible and convenient shopping formats to enhance their shopping experience, compared to other regions of the world. These formats are: online shopping (with four variations) and using handheld scanners in-store to avoid checkout lines.

More than three-quarters of (77%) consumers in the region indicated they would take advantage of the online shopping/home delivery format, compared to one-fifth of North Americans and  one-third of Europeans. This format is especially popular with consumers in nine Asia Pacific countries including China (88%), Vietnam (81%) and Taiwan (71%).

60% of Asia Pacific consumers said they would like to use hand-held scanners to avoid queuing at check-out lines, making it the second most-favored option for convenient shopping among the five presented. In particular, consumers in Australia (48%), New Zealand (54%) and Singapore (58%) were most inclined to use these scanners.

"Even though non-price attributes are becoming more important, great sales and promotions play a very influential role in driving shoppers to make a trip to a particular store, especially during this time when rising prices are casting a shadow over household budgets," Gale, said.

 

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