IRI has released its latest Consumer Spending Tracker covering the UK, France, Italy, Germany, US, New Zealand, Greece and the Netherlands. It uses point of sale (POS) data from major grocery retailers to provide insights on how the coronavirus crisis is impacting the industry and consumer buying behaviour.
The most recent report suggests that across geographies, demand is beginning to stabilise towards typical trends with consumers shifting to steady-state purchasing post-stockpiling. However, in some categories, demand is still significantly higher or lower than last year.
For example, in the UK, sales of food & drink in the week ending 29 March were falling in some categories compared to the same period as last year, while demand for OTC healthcare and paper products (toilet roll) remained high.
Meanwhile, e-commerce is continuing to show strong growth over last year. In Italy and France, there is a consistent, increasing shift to e-commerce since the beginning of the crisis. In the US, in-store sales grew more than e-commerce initially, but spending is beginning to revert more online post-stockpiling.
The full report can be downloaded here (PDF)
NAM Implications:
- Key for suppliers to compare their results with appropriate IRI figures…
- …and obviously play to your strengths.
- Meanwhile, anticipate the emergence of the super-savvy consumer…
- …demanding demonstrable value for money…
- …like never before.
