With school on break and people more on-the-go, snacking habits tend to change during these sunny months. Which is why at the end of June, Frito-Lay released its most recent U.S. Snack Index focusing on summer trends. The online poll, which was conducted between May 26-May 27, 2022 took a national sample of 2,200 adults and an additional 200 adults ages 18-34. It found that found that the 90 percent of consumers who snack on a daily basis daily placed great importance on the companies whose snacks they’re eating. The top values driving their purchase decisions included the snack companies’ attention to sustainability practices (77 percent), community impact around food access (78 percent), and treatment of employees (87 percent) are among the top values driving purchasing decisions. The younger demographic polled, in particular, placed valued upon the stances that a snack company makes with more than half respondents taking a brand’s ethics and sustainability practices into consideration when making a purchase. However, both demographics agreed that Ingredient integrity and flavor exploration has more influence over food and snack choice, with 42 percent overall stating that they would choose flavor combinations such as sweet and spicy, or tangy and salty over familiar, regional flavors (21 percent), texture (21 percent), or international flavors (15 percent). Consumers also preferred a salty/sweet snack combination (42 percent) over texture, international or local flavors. They also aren’t afraid of shaking things up with 40 percent saying that they are most excited to try a flavor profile that they like but have never tried in a snack product and with 35 percent saying that innovative flavors are most likely to influence their selection. The survey also reveals that long-term eating habits are shifting with Gen Z and Millennials more likely to prefer to eat in solitude (45 percent) and Millennials (19 percent) and Gen Zers (20 percent), and parents (20 percent) are slightly more likely than average to snack on-the-go. It also found that busy parents are more likely to replace meals with snacks several times per week or more than non-parents.
“During the summer, people explore new activities, new places and enjoy new flavors of snacks as they attend more outdoor gatherings,” said Mike Del Pozzo, chief customer officer, Frito-Lay North America. “While flavor continues to drive consumers’ food-purchasing behaviors, we know how a company behaves matters and that’s why I’m proud of Frito-Lay’s commitment to sustainability and community impact.”
Also dropping late last month was dunnhumby’s inaugural eCommerce Retailer Preference Index (eCommerce RPI) – a comprehensive, nationwide study that examines the emerging $100 billion U.S. eCommerce grocery market. The report is part of the “The dunnhumby Quarterly: eCommerce Edition,” a new strategic analysis of the key grocery eCommerce themes from the London-based global customer data science company that also puts together the annual Retailer Preference Index (RPI), the industry’s first annual ranking of retailers based both on financial performance and customer sentiment
The overall eCommerce RPI rankings are the result of a consumer survey-informed statistical model that predicts how retailers execute on the customer needs that matter most for driving eCommerce performance and emotional bonds with online shoppers. The survey polled 3,000 households on five drivers of customer preference for eCommerce (owned digital asset usage, ease and reliability, substitutes, product, and price) to come up with the retailers’ preference driver score and emotional connection score. The retailers’ eCommerce performance was determined by a composite score based on change in web visits between 2019 to 2021, share of wallet online, and online penetration of a retailer’s total shopper base. The rankings can grouped into three terciles: the first tercile is comprised of top performers, the second has middle-of-the-pack retailers, and the third has the bottom performers. Those who ranked in the first tercile had an e-grocery share of wallet 2x higher than retailers in the third tercile. First tercile retailers also doubled those in the third tercile on overall grocery share of wallet.
In a surprise move, out of the 71 retailers ranked, H-E-B topped the list, barely edging out Amazon. Amazon Fresh came in third, while Walmart and Sam’s Club took the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Kroger, BJ’s and Sprouts rounded out the top eight.
“H-E-B’s impressive performance proves that it’s possible to compete and win against Amazon when it comes to grocery e-commerce. Their success offers mid-size and regional retailers a roadmap on how to succeed online,” stated Grant Steadman, president of North America for dunnhumby. “H-E-B’s eCommerce journey goes back to 2015, when they first started with curbside pick-up, and they have since built up a powerful online ecosystem. The combination of a simple and easy to use shopping experience with a fantastic emotional connection with customers shows how grocers can thrive in this multichannel landscape.”
One of the key takeaways from the report is that scale and size allows retailers to have more funds to invest in eCommerce and greater operational efficiencies. Also, the top eight retailers in this study all have well-established eCommerce capabilities. and most of them also have scale and size as a key competitive advantage. They also most likely had greater control over the online experience for their customers because they were well-established in their own digital assets versus having to depend on intermediaries. The retailers who relied more heavily on intermediaries, on the other hand, had lower scores for the ease/reliability customer preference driver, higher bounce rates, and fewer pages/visits. The report also found that in the case of retailers who used intermediaries, the loyalty of the customer resided with the retailer, with Instacart, Shipt and Door Dash having lower emotional customer connection than almost all of the retailers in the survey. The results of the study also indicate that in general, the online grocery shopper has a more focused mission when buying online than in-store, purchasing fewer categories. And while the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated eCommerce growth, it did not necessarily raise the ceiling for it – it is just helping retailers get closer to it in a shorter amount of time.
There’s a lot of valuable information to be found in the report that I haven’t even touched upon, so to gain deeper insight into its findings, I recommend checking it out: www.dunnhumby.com/ecommerce-retailer-preference-index-june-2022/
Plus, retailers who were included in this report can request to receive their individual banner profiles by contacting dunnhumby at: https://www.dunnhumby.com/contact/.
Speaking of H-E-B, one of the reasons the retailer is so beloved is because of its deep commitment to the communities it serves. Case in point: in the wake of the Robb Elementary School tragedy in Uvalde, the San Antonio-based supermarket chain and its founders, the Butt family, just made a $10 million commitment to help build a new elementary campus in Uvalde, Texas. The new campus will significantly enhance educational offerings and implement state-of-the-art safety and security measures, and infrastructure to support the availability of new technology.
“Our first store in Uvalde opened in 1959, and Uvalde people are our people,” said Charles Butt, H-E-B’s chairman, in a statement. “As we continue to mourn tremendous loss, I join with my family and H-E-B in working to ensure the Uvalde community can move forward from this tragic event. Our children are this country’s future, and our schools should be a safe place where children can thrive and envision new possibilities.”
This pledge is in addition to comes another f $500,000 commitment that the privately-owned made last month retailer to support the victims and families affected by the tragedy and a $500,000 donation from the H-E-B Tournament of Champions Charitable Trust to support nonprofits helping fellow Texans in Uvalde.
And before I sign off for the month, I want to give a shout out to my friends, Rick and Sue Manzi of Giant Food. The Manzis, who are part of a competition BBQ team called AnonymousQ, “racked’ up the wins at this year’s National Barbecue Battle including second place in the Ribs category, second place in the Sizzlin’ Perdue Chicken contest, second place in the Smokin’ with Smithfield Foods Ribs Contest, and third in the Chicken category. In total, their team walked away with seven trophies and finished fifth overall, barely missing the elite score of 700 by a fraction. Congrats on such a huge victory – I can’t wait to see what you two put out at next year’s event!
Until next month…
Karen can be contacted via email at: [email protected]