Grocery shopping in the UK has seen a 'massive shift' in food shopping habits since the pandemic, according to a report by the BBC based on insights from Kantar.
The changes include fewer visits to the supermarket, buying more store-brand products and availing loyalty schemes to earn discounts.
Data from Kantar showed that the average household trips to a grocer dropped from 18 a month before the COVID-19 pandemic to around 16 times a month at present.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, told the BBC that people have not returned to shops like before and are still working from home, which cuts down on opportunities to shop.
Shoppers are also spending more on their main shop than before the pandemic, the report noted.
Online Shopping
Figures also unveiled that current online spending on groceries in the UK dropped to almost 12% (11.7%), from 15.4% in February 2021 at the height of the pandemic.
According to McKevitt, this decline is driven by older people giving up on online shopping after the lockdown.
However, online shopping continues to be more popular than it was just before the pandemic, when it accounted for around 8% of grocery spending.
Other Trends
The sales of own-brand groceries increased to 51% by the end of 2022, from about 45% in 2005.
Data also showed that sales at discounters Aldi and Lidl soared by more than 23% year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 14 May.
The cost-of-living crisis has driven shoppers to avail of supermarket loyalty schemes, which offer discounts in exchange for points.
Kantar data showed that the number of in-store deals at supermarkets have fallen sharply, while the spending on these deals has dropped to 25% from 40% in 2014.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
