Someone attending the FMI Speaks presentation in Dallas yesterday wouldn't have been completely wrong in saying there were not a lot of findings in this year's report.
But that takeaway would be a mistake, according to FMI president Leslie Sarasin, as she urged the audience not to let the familiarity of the findings "blind" them to the "larger significance" of "stunning" changes shaping the grocery business today.
One of the on-going changes continuing to shape the business is the migration away from supermarkets as the primary place for consumers to buy groceries. Other outlets are now the primary grocery shopping destination for more than one in three shoppers. When consumers do shop at supermarkets, they are buying fewer items per trips.
The research conducted by Booz & Company, identified four key trends:
- Value-Seeking as a Way of Life - The "new normal" where consumers are continually looking for ways to save has become ingrained in the U.S.
- Technology as a Fact of Shopping Life - Consumers are using technology before and during shopping trips. This will only continue to grow.
- Online Shopping Eating Away at Center Store - The failure of companies to crack the online grocery code has not stopped others from trying. Consumers are already buying center store grocery products online and this is likely to become more common.
- Format Innovation Pointing to New Differentiators - The grocery footprint continues to grow in the U.S., but it is channels such as dollar, clubs, limited assortment grocery and supercenters that are adding space. Ms. Sarasin said retailers need to find ways to differentiate through merchandise selection, service, etc. in an environment where consumers have so many options to buy groceries.