Checking Out In-Store Reality

More than 50% say there are too many varieties on supermarket shelves; current products felt to be over-packaged by many

Nearly half (45%) of British consumers say new products coming onto the shelf do not fit their needs, but say they can be influenced into changing their minds. A new, regular, survey from the consumer marketing specialism at Ipsos, reveals more insights and understanding into how consumers shop.

Some 51% of consumers share their impression that they see too many varieties for the same brands, 36% also tell us it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the items they want.

The top-line findings for the British public are part of a regular 14-country survey conducted by consumer marketing at Ipsos to measure public perceptions of retail choice.

Tim Maton, Director, Ipsos's specialist Retail Division said:

"While consumer sophistication is ever increasing, more people seem to be getting confused and maybe even frustrated by the choice at point of sale. So it is very interesting and prognostic that 19% of people said they would be doing most of their grocery shopping on-line in the future compared to a current base of only 5% shopping on-line at the end of last year."

Another interesting shopping habit unearthed by the survey is that 54% of British consumers said that items they buy on special offer or on promotion were things they would buy anyway.

Three-quarters of UK consumers think products have too much packaging

And overall 57% said packaging nowadays is too difficult to open (rising to 71% of those aged over 45).

Interestingly, 35% of people say it is rare that they bother to read any detail on packaging, and this is pretty uniform across all age groups and genders, suggesting impact and clarity of branding remain more important for most than the details.

Shoppers change their minds at the displays

Despite the above backdrop, a significant minority across several categories, 40%, tell us they often change their mind when in front of the display.

Even when it comes to what are typically felt to be planned categories, both genders can be tempted -- from 44% of women saying they often change their choice of products at the display for household goods, compared to 30% of men. As one might expect, at the snack display (confectionery, biscuits and cakes) 54% of women and 45% of men say they often change their minds, but only 39% of women will change their minds at the health and beauty stand, (compared to 22% of men).

The demise of the brand and the growth of stores' own products are over-heralded!

Whilst nearly four in ten British consumers say they will buy more stores' own label in the future, a similar proportion still trust manufacturer brands more than stores' own products.

Future surveys in this regular multi-country survey will reveal the ebb and flow of this balance over coming years.

Gill Aitchison, CEO Consumer Marketing Specialism, Ipsos concludes:

"This has been a revealing first toe in the water for regular understanding of consumer trends and shopping wishes across 14 countries. It will be fascinating to see how these figures change, and we would be happy to share results from other countries with new and existing clients alike."

Technical details

Survey conducted on-line amongst 1,000 adults per country aged 16-64 years (18+years in USA), 20-24 July 2006, using i:omnibus the Ipsos on-line omnibus survey in 14 countries; Australia; Belgium; Czech Republic; France; Germany; Great Britain; Italy; Japan; Netherlands; Poland; Romania; Spain; Sweden; USA.