Buying ‘little and more often’ returns as shoppers shed pandemic behaviour

Britons are expected to shed pandemic shopping behaviour and return to buying “little and more often” amid living costs forcing them to steer clear of “unnecessary cupboard stocking”, stated a leading retailer expert citing recent grocery sales figures.

According to recent data by NielsenIQ, UK shoppers spent a total of £7.1 billion at UK supermarkets in the two weeks ending Dec 25 with weekly sales peaking at +14.8 per cent, exceeding previous forecasts from the analyst.

Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK head of retail and business insight, stated that shoppers are expected to keep an eye on the bill during their weekly shopping. 

“Looking ahead, consumers are facing significantly higher energy, travel and other household costs so it’s likely that shoppers will look to make savings on their weekly food shop by managing budgets,” he said.

“We may see  them buying what they need when they need it, wasting less fresh food, and steering clear of unnecessary cupboard stocking. This would give added momentum to the return of the ‘little and more often’ macro trend we are anticipating as we hopefully leave behind the pandemic shopping behaviour in the new year.”

Data also shows that Brits spent £14bn on Christmas categories at UK supermarkets, an increase of +8.7 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with soft drinks emerging as a winning category with growth of +14.5 per cent compared with 2019, and up +9.4 per cent in 2020.

Online shopping visits fell -1.7 per cent over the four week period whilst in-store visits jumped to +6.3 per cent, indicating a shift in shopping behaviours of UK consumers, who continue to embrace an omnichannel shopping mindset. 

“Omnichannel purchasing, shopping around, and entertaining at home were the big shopping trends over the festive period. All retailers had more shoppers than this time last year and most had more visits, even if spend per visit was a little lower at just over £21,” Watkins said.

“British consumers are continuing to adopt an omnichannel approach and whilst online allows them to plan ahead, shoppers are increasingly heading in-store for a regular weekly shop as well as for last-minute purchases and we can expect this behaviour to continue.”