The term channel-blurring has taken on almost nostalgic quality these days. It's been many years since it was first identified that consumers were going to a variety of retailers to buy products that once were almost exclusively purchased at one particular type of store, primarily supermarkets. But, quaintness aside, the migration of consumers from one channel to another continues as evidenced by results from a recently published survey of more than 1,200 consumers by King Retail Solutions and the University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing.
According to the research, 77 percent of Boomers, Gen X and Millennials purchased groceries from stores other than a supermarket last year and 96 percent plan to buy more from non-grocers this year. Interestingly, the wealthier the consumer, the more likely they are to buy groceries from a club, dollar store, supercenter, or other alternative to traditional grocers.
Not surprisingly, big box alternatives are the most likely places for consumers to spend their grocery dollars. The top 20 favorite places for consumers to buy groceries outside of the grocery channel, according to the survery, are:
1. Target
2. Walmart
3. Walgreens
4. CVS
5. Costco
6. Dollar General
7. Farmers Markets
8. Dollar Tree
9. 7-Eleven
10. Kmart
11. Sam's Club
12. Rite Aid
13. Family Dollar
14. Starbucks
15. Kwik Trip
16. Big Lots
17. Cost Plus World Market
18. Wawa
19. Circle K
20. BJ's Wholesale Club