TABS Analytics Blog

Only 4.5 percent of US consumers shop regularly online for groceries; 69 percent of US consumers never shop online for food and beverage consumables

Shelton, CT – September 14, 2016 –The TABS Analytics Fourth Annual Food and Beverage Study found once again that online grocery shopping continues to be weak, with just 4.5 percent of consumers regularly purchasing food and beverages online compared to 78 percent of consumers regularly purchasing food and beverages from brick and mortar grocery outlets. Although regular online grocery purchasing increased by half a percentage point since the 2015 study (from 3.9 percent in 2015 to 4.5 percent in 2016), it has yet to break five percent in the four years TABS has conducted this study.

TABS Analytics completed its Food and Beverage Categories Study in August 2016. This first infographic from this consumables study reveals some not-so-flattering details about the current state of onine grocery purchasing.

• The ecommerce share in food and beverage categories remains low. 
• Even with heavy investment behind improving online grocery shopping from retailers across the country, penetration declined in the past year.
• The lone bright spot has been the slight gain in share for online grocery thanks to curbside pickup.

Click here to view as a PDF.

Following our previous blog post highlighting results from our September 2015 survey of Canadian consumers buying food and beverage consumables products, we wanted to dive a bit deeper into the findings and look at heavy buyers and their underlying demographics (households who buy 11 times or more per year across 15 consumables categories).  

By far the biggest predictor of heavy consumption patterns is the presence or absence of children in the home. Only 13 percent of households without children reported they purchased these consumables heavily, while 45 percent of the households with kids were heavy users (a 3-fold increase!). This suggests that companies would get the best results by targeting households with children rather than the 18-to-34 year olds that many marketers believe are the most desirable target.

In September 2015, TABS Group surveyed 1,000 adults between ages 18 and 75 to determine how often they purchased various sub-categories of food and beverages. The 1,000 survey respondents live in Canada, and TABS Group used the Canadian survey results to compare and contrast differences in purchase and consumption habits between Canadian consumers and U.S. consumers.

The food and beverage categories of consumables included candy, carbonated beverages, salty snacks, ice cream, yogurt, cereal, refrigerated drinks, fruit juice, cookies and crackers. The data was tested for internal validity and external industry corroboration. Buyers were grouped based on the frequency with which they purchased specific categories.

TABS Group Study on Food and Beverage Consumables Finds Discount Grocery a Major Force in Canadian Retail

Discount grocery in Canada is twice the market share as in the U.S. and online shopping is a non-factor with a 1.3 percent share according to new TABS Group study

Canadian food and beverage industry consumables (e.g. snacks, beverages, candy, cereal) categories account for roughly 20% of total consumer packaged goods (CPG) sales in Canada and are very important barometers for industry trends as a whole. 

This infographic highlights some of the results from our 2015 Canadian Food and Beverage Consumables Study and draws comparisons to the U.S. market.

Key findings include:

• Consumer purchasing rates for 15 consumables categories
• Analysis of heavy consumables consumers - Canada vs. U.S.
• Key demographics for Canadian households

Click here to view as a PDF.

The grocery channel continues to lead all shopping channels for the second year in a row in the TABS Group Food and Beverage Consumables study*. The reported percentage of people buying consumables in the grocery channel was 78 percent. Roughly 60 percent of the gain in the buyer base was due to survey respondents explicitly identifying Meijer as a grocery outlet, which means that 40 percent of the gain was due to a true increase in regular purchasing in grocery.

Last week, we discussed the importance of heavy buyers - in particular, households with children - to driving more sales growth in the food and beverage categories we surveyed in our TABS Group 2015 Food and Beverage Consumables study*. In today's post, we'll look at a trend we've seen in a number of CPG categories, declining consumer participation in trade deals tactics.

• EDLP: Every Day Low Price.
• Shop for Deals: Consumers explicitly choose stores that offer the “best deals.” Circular:  Paper advertisements of price discounts distributed by retailers at stores or by mail.
• PVL Purchases: “Private Label Purchases” – or, buying the “house” brands of retailers which are typically 20 to 30percent cheaper.
• FSI: Free Standing Insert is the coupon insert that comes with the Sunday paper.
• Loyalty: Loyalty cards issued by stores that provide discounts to users of the cards.
• Large Sizes: Large size packages that usually yield a better “value”.
• Digital Coupons: Coupons distributed on the online.
• Bonus Packs: Additional item(s) bundled with an existing item as a promotion incentive
• Rebate: Require a consumer to mail in a coupon for redemption of the offer.  

Following up our blog post introducing TABS Group's Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) consumables* food and beverage industry survey, we wanted to dive deeper into the fact that in most consumables categories surveyed, the actions of heavy buyers/heavy users had the biggest influence on whether the purchases were up or down.

TABS Group created a measure to define light, medium and heavy consumables buyers.  There was a consistent scoring system of each buyer over the three years that is a function of high purchase frequency across several categories.  In 2015 heavy buyers accounted for roughly 25 percent of buyers and 50 percent of transactions.  This was lower than 2014, when heavy buyers accounted for 30 percent of buyers and over 57 percent of transactions.  

TABS Group conducted a comprehensive survey* of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) consumables food and beverage industry categories to uncover growth and consumer buying trends. Overall, the consumables categories surveyed showed a four percent decline in purchases, primarily driven by a lower number of heavy category buyers (buying six plus times annually) versus 2014. In most consumables categories surveyed, the actions of heavy buyers had the biggest influence on whether the purchases were up or down. Download a detailed report on the findings to learn more.