An overwhelming majority of U.S. supermarket shoppers will continue purchasing store brand products after the recession is over.
A poll conducted in June 2009 by GfK Custom Research North America for the Private Label Manufacturers Association reports that 91% of shoppers say they will continue buying store-brand products even after economic conditions improve. Conversely, only 8% of the consumer polled said they would stop buying these products.
The quality of store brand products is a big factor in convincing shoppers to keep buying them, according to the survey. GfK reported that 9 of every 10 shoppers agree the store-brand products they buy are just as good as, or better than, national brand products.
Nearly half of consumers polled said they wanted their supermarket to carry a greater assortment of private-label products.
However, GfK found that the recession is still having a big impact on shoppers:
• 74% of them say the recession is an important factor in their purchase decision-making.
• Well into the recession, shoppers are still switching to store brands. The poll found that 35% of shoppers are trying store brand products in categories where they had previously only purchased national brand items.
• More than 30% of shoppers say they are now buying more store-brand products than they were a year ago.
These are some of the results included in PLMA’s ongoing study, “Store Brands and The Recession,” based on GfK’s nationwide poll of nearly 800 main household grocery shoppers.
This latest research in the study was co-sponsored by Marketing Management Inc., Forth Worth, TX. The sales and marketing company specializes in store brands.
