Grocers Losing Moms’ Loyalty, New Survey Finds

There’s good news and bad news for grocers in a new nationwide survey of American moms. Despite signs of economic recovery, the majority of moms – 58 percent – expect to scale back dining out the rest of this year, with nearly two-thirds planning to cook more at home. The outlook also is good for sales of more profitable private label products. More than half of moms say they will buy fewer brand name items, with more than four in ten planning to buy private labels. That’s the good news.

“Grocers have clearly conditioned moms to buy on price, a trend that will continue well into the future.”

Now the bad: the survey found moms are even more addicted to deals and coupons than ever. More than four in ten say they will switch stores for lower prices.

“Moms are telling us that they view the economic recovery very cautiously,” said David Bohan, CEO of BOHAN, which conducted the survey for its WhyMomsRule.com blog. “Grocers have clearly conditioned moms to buy on price, a trend that will continue well into the future.”

The vast majority of moms – 84 percent – plan to use coupons, with more than three-quarters saying they will increase their coupon use this year. But the majority of moms are not interested in receiving them through social networking sites (59 percent) or mobile phones (74 percent.) Instead, they prefer to receive them through newspapers, mail, e-mail, grocer Web sites and in stores.

Moms also are disinterested in organic and locally grown food, with only 24 percent planning to buy more organics and just a third planning to purchase more locally grown products. Currently, about half select organics less than once a month, while a quarter buy locally grown food once a week or more.

While many grocers have added in-store dining and are offering a wide array of prepared foods, moms are walking past them. The survey found less than 15 percent (10 percent for in-store dining and 14 percent for prepared foods) consider such services important.

“Today’s moms, more than anything else, want low prices, a wide variety of brands and rewards programs that are tailored to their needs,” said Shari Day, who leads BOHAN’s grocery team, based in its Knoxville, Tenn. office. “Although most are not currently interested in mobile coupons, we anticipate they will warm up to them as technology improves and makes them easier to use.”

The survey of 585 moms over age 18 with at least two children at home was conducted online in late May. It has a margin of error of 5 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. Click here for the full report and charts.

 

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