Portuguese consumers are buying fewer products but paying higher prices for the privilege, increasingly opting for private label products, a new study has found.
These are the main conclusions of a study on the FMCG sector in the first quarter of 2022 conducted by Kantar for Centromarca, which was reported by Jornal de Negocios.
According to the study, the volume of shopping baskets in the quarter was the lowest in recent years, down by 2.8% compared to Q1 2019.
A decline in volume was seen across all categories, the only exception being the hygiene and beauty segment, which has maintained the devaluation already seen in previous periods.
Despite a drop in both value and volume sales compared to last year, frequency of purchase remains stable, the study found, with younger consumers increasing their purchase frequency.
Between January and March 2022, some 58% of product categories saw an increase in prices, including in basic segments such as rice, olive oil and margarines.
Private Label Acceleration
As a result of cost cutting, there was a ‘continued and accelerated growth of private labels’, according to the study.
Private label's share of the market now stands at 41.1%, up 2.3% on 2021 and 5.2% on 2019, with an especially strong store brand performance seen in Mercadona, which recently announced its store expansion target for 2022, and Intermarché.
Compared to Q1 2019, the preference for private labels is even more visible in those categories that have seen an increase in pries, such as UHT milk, soft drinks or olive oil.
In terms of out-of-home consumption, the numbers are still far from the pre-pandemic period, hindered by a combination of inflation and hybrid working models.
E-commerce penetration remains slightly higher than in 2020 (15% versus 16.8%), with older consumers in particular continuing to do their shopping remotely.
Despite higher prices also permeating the online channel, consumers are more loyal and nearly 40% repeat online purchases, with larger shopping baskets than the national average.
Read More: Portugal Sees Rationing Of Food Products
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
