Affluent Shoppers Seeking Out Deals on Grocery Items in The Recession

From a recent Nielsen Study.
As the “great recession” continues and consumers hear conflicting messaging about when the U.S. economy will improve, shoppers from all income levels are increasingly seeking out and taking advantage of deals at the grocery store. Whether in the form of store promotion or deal or manufacturers coupon, deal rates are up more than 8% from a year ago for households earning more than $70K, a faster rise than the 6% uptick for middle-income households ($30K-$69.9K) and 5% gain for the lower income households earning less than $30K per year.
Affluent households are also driving faster trip growth in value retail channels like supercenters, warehouse clubs and dollar stores, but their overall importance to the sales in each channel ranges from a low of 19% for dollar stores to a high of 57% for warehouse clubs. “We see opportunity to use different assortment, pricing and promotional programs targeted to the ’shopper income’ draw of a particular store. And while value messaging needs to be prominent in these tough times, it can’t all be about low prices,” says Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer and Shopper Insight.
Well said Todd.  Look for ways to give shoppers more value not necessarily discounts all the time or they’ll come to expect them when the recession is over.  The big question is whether America’s new found thriftiness will carry on after the recession.  I think we’re seeing a major shift in consumerism over the next 20 years due to the emotional impact the recession is having on a majority of American families.