Alabama Grocer 2023 Issue 3.indd

END OF SUMMER INDUSTRY NEWS

Jennifer Hatcher Chief Public Policy Officer & Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Food Marketing Institute PARENTS' SHOPPING BEHAVIORS ARE SHIFTING AMID BACK-TO-SCHOOL SEASON

The end of summer is often a stressful time for parents as they prepare to send their children back to school. Not only do they have to worry about purchasing clothes and school supplies, figure out schedules and transportation for after school activities, and meet with new teachers to set up the school year for success – they also have to start shopping again for school snacks and preparing portable meals that are both healthful end enjoyable for their children. With everything that parents must juggle at this time of year, it’s no wonder they are shopping in ways that are different from the rest of consumers. Last month, FMI – The Food Industry Association released our fourth installment in our five-part series exploring U.S. grocery shopper behaviors and attitudes. The most recent “Back to School” report reveals surprising ways in which parents are seeking and finding solutions to feed their families. One of the more prominent trends we found is that busy parents are utilizing online grocery shopping at greater levels than the typical household to help manage their busy schedules, even as online shopping overall has leveled off since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents are increasingly leveraging the convenience of online shopping options provided by their

grocers, with 42% reporting a year-over year increase in the frequency of their online grocery trips. In fact, parents are twice as likely to shop online for their groceries every single time than consumers as a whole, 24% to 12%. As retailers continue to adjust and improve their online shopping offerings, they should keep parents in mind and how online shopping can turn the weekly grocery trip from a chore to a joy by providing convenience, quality, experience and relevance—all part of today’s grocery shoppers’ value matrix. More than any other group of shoppers, parents have also changed their food consumption behaviors. The report finds that 63% of parents are now eating at home, 59% cook/prepare their own meals, and 45% bring food from home to work. Parents are looking for meal solutions and the food industry is perfectly positioned as a resource and ally. Retailers can position themselves for success with this cohort by offering ways for parents to create hybrid meals that combine scratch cooking with pre-made items. Cross-merchandising products to create meal solutions can make the path to purchase easier on parents when planning their meals for the week. Extreme weather leading to summer disruptions has also caused parents to alter their spending habits.

Of those surveyed, 64% of parents report eating at home more than usual over the past few months. Parents were significantly more likely to stock up on grocery staples in anticipation of extreme weather than other shoppers. Similarly, parents were more likely to buy more bottled water and hydration drinks than their counterparts. Thirty-three million households in America have children at home, demonstrating that parents are a sizable and valuable segment of food retailers’ customer base – especially since they tend to purchase more during their weekly grocery trips than consumers as a whole. Retailers that emphasize making their lives easier through improved online shopping experiences, convenient meal solutions, and increased product offerings that parents tend to purchase will be better positioned to foster customer loyalty. To download the U.S. Grocer Shopper Trends 2023 – Back to School report and to sign up to receive updates on

future reports in the series, visit www.FMI.org/GroceryTrends.

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