Consumers are not only changing their buying habits for products considered non-essential, but, with high prices due to inflation, they are also changing the way they buy their food.
Inflation has dealt a heavy blow to family budgets and food is one of the products that became more expensive during August, when year-on-year inflation reached 8.3%.
In the midst of these changes and with fair spending, low-cost supermarkets like Aldi are gaining customers, according to recent figures that show an increase in the traffic of people visiting its branches.
As of last September alone, at least one million American households bought their food at some of the 2, 2022 stores that Aldi has in the country.
The data coincides with a growth of two digits in its sales in the first nine months of the year and with an increase of 10.5 % in the traffic of people in the aisles of its stores, according to figures from the company Placer.ai., a company that uses the location of mobile devices to estimate visits to stores.
But although the case of Aldi is notorious, it is part of a much broader trend in the sector of low-cost or dollar stores, such as Dollar Tree, that even are attracting consumers with medium and high income levels in the face of rising prices.
“ We’ve seen a pretty definite shift in consumers starting to shop at discount stores like Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Lidl,” said RJ Hottovy, chief of analytical research at Placer.ai, in a report for CNN.
Discount pricing changes the way you shop. ras
Experts in the retail market are clear that with high prices, consumers have decided to look for their best options to spend their budget.
They assure that, in this search, traditional retail stores are losing market share, while discount stores or low prices win it.
Brittany Steiger, Senior Analyst, Retail & Trade Electronic market research company Mintel said that even consumers are looking for such deals away from their homes.
“Most consumers tend to shop at the store closest to their home”, asserted Mintel; however, “discount retailers are benefiting as consumers look to their neighborhood grocery store for lower prices,” he added.
Aldi is a A clear example of these changes: according to company data, the majority of its buyers so far this year are consumers with medium and high incomes , who earn between $54,000 and $100,000 dollars a year or more.
“It is a time when consumers are looking for solutions. Inflation is hitting everyone ”, assured the vice president of National Purchasing and Customer Interaction at Aldi, Scott Patton, in a report by CNN.
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