An IGD study has found that convenience stores are mostly used for top-up shopping, with 60 per cent of shoppers visiting these stores for this type of trip.
However, 42 per cent of shoppers also now use supermarkets for top-ups, along with 31 per cent of shoppers who visit discounters and 22 per cent who use high street discounters.
As competition intensifies, the convenience channel is still ahead for staple top-up items such as eggs, bread and milk, the ShopperVista study found, as 50 per cent of shoppers use convenience stores for these particular items.
When it comes to fresh foods such as fruit, vegetables, fish and meat, the supermarket is the most-used channel. Specialist stores such as greengrocers, butchers and farmers' markets are also popular for fresh food top-ups.
"Convenience stores are the natural home of capturing the top-up pound, but they face stiff competition as other store formats have also homed in on the growing opportunity," said Joanne Denney-Finch, IGD chief executive. "The definition of top-up shopping itself is changing. It's no longer simply about distress purchases such as bread and milk, shoppers are telling us that it's starting to mean more items in a basket, more fresh food and more time spent in store.
"Four out of 10 shoppers say they are putting more items in their top-up shopping basket, against just 11 per cent who are putting less in compared to two or three years ago."
The study was released to coincide with IGD's Convenience Summit, which took place yesterday (4 June) in London.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Ciara Mooney
