Consumers continue to focus on value

Despite gradual signs of economic recovery in the US, consumers continue to stay closely focused on value when making buying decisions. According to new research from US based market research company SymphonyIRI Group, consumers are continuing to embrace money-saving strategies, which is in turn, affecting growth in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.

“For 2012, we forecasted that shoppers would continue to define value largely based on price, manufacturers and retailers would pass ongoing commodity price increases on to the shopper, and private label sales would continue in their current ranges,” said Piyush Chaudhari, president of the Americas, SymphonyIRI, who added that 2013 is expected to reflect the same trend towards value-driven buying.

In addition to a focus on value, shoppers are expected to reduce the number of channels they visit. The share of consumers shopping at fewer than five channels grew three percentage points between Q1 and Q4 2012, with shoppers moving towards channels that are perceived as offering the best value. Finally, new media is poised to become a more traditional shopping channel, with the number of consumers leveraging the Internet for product information and deals growing rapidly.