Survey Finds the Six Kinds of Supermarket Shoppers--Which Are You? : The Changing Nature of Food Purchaser

Heidi Young unloads her grocery cart, full of Stouffer’s frozen dinners, onto the conveyor belt and sighs. “I work a long week, and I don’t like to spend a lot of time shopping,” she says.

Or cooking, for that matter. “When I get home, I don’t have the energy and inclination.” So it’s either frozen dinners or fresh entrees prepared in the supermarket.

Three checkout counters down from Young at an Alexandria, Va., Safeway is Charlotte Hall, who after 52 years of marriage admits she is tired of cooking. With her four children all gone from home, Hall and her husband “just don’t eat a lot like we used to. We have a lot of frozen dinners or eat out.”

In the express lane, however, is John Kicak, a retired engineer and an avid shopper. Kicak stops in his local supermarkets for fresh vegetables and last-minute items, but for the everyday products, he goes to the store that has the best prices--usually the warehouse supermarket down the street or a discount warehouse club miles away.

“Why should I pay 99 cents for a roll of paper towels (at a traditional supermarket) when I can get them (at a warehouse club) for 76 cents?” Kicak asks.

A Traditional Customer

For years, Kicak has been the supermarket’s traditional customer--a bargain-seeker who likes to cook. But today, with two-wage-earner families and chockablock schedules, Kicak is one of a declining breed of shoppers.

Consumers like Hall and Young, on the other hand, belong to a burgeoning group of Americans who are looking for shortcuts in both cooking and shopping--and are willing to pay more for these conveniences.

Supermarkets, seeing these consumers spending an increasing amount of money at convenience stores, takeout-food counters and restaurants, are introducing new services, from full-service banks to travel agencies and dry cleaning, to keep these reluctant shoppers coming to their stores. In the years ahead, even baby-sitting, home repair and poodle washes are possible.

“The supermarket will become home to a surprising number of new departments,” says Willard Bishop, president of the supermarket-consulting firm Willard Bishop Consulting Ltd.

Behind the innovations is the evolving consumer as delineated in a recent survey by the consulting firm Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc. for the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council, which studies major issues and problems confronted by wholesalers and retailers.

Six Distinct Groups

The study found six distinct groups of supermarket shoppers:

--Avid Shoppers: Active cooks and shoppers, avid shoppers are usually bargain seekers like Kicak. “They cook dinner nearly every day, eating out only on special occasions,” the study says. So it’s no surprise that they spend more time shopping than other consumers and are not loyal to any particular store, preferring instead to shop at the store that offers the best prices that particular day.

Avid shoppers have traditionally been the supermarket’s core customers, accounting today for 26% of all consumers, or almost one of every four shoppers. But by the year 2000 the number of avid shoppers is expected to drop to one of every five shoppers, or 20%.

--Hurried Shoppers: Mostly working mothers, hurried shoppers are busy consumers who are looking for shortcuts in shopping and cooking. “These mothers consider a healthful family dinner desirable but dislike cooking and lack the time during the day to prepare meals regularly,” the study finds.

However, eating out is difficult with children, so these shoppers are willing to spend more money than the avid shopper, buying a lot of takeout, frozen or prepared food. This is important, because the group will spend a disproportionately large amount of money on food even while dropping from 17% of today’s consumers to 15% in 2000.

--Unfettered Shoppers: Mostly older consumers, unfettered shoppers’ children have grown up and left home. “Dinner is less complicated now,” the study says. Simpler meals are made when they eat at home, but frequently these consumers eat out or take out.

Yet, these shoppers are increasingly conscious about what they eat, monitoring their cholesterol and salt intake. With the aging population, this group of shoppers is growing the fastest. Accounting for 13% of the shoppers today, this group is expected to reach 16% by the year 2000.

--Kitchen Strangers: Whether married, single or divorced, kitchen strangers are those shoppers in households without children. “The kitchen stranger rarely cooks dinner, eating out for breakfast, lunch or dinner--sometimes all three,” the study finds.

A Low-Priority Chore

Needless to say, cooking is a major inconvenience, and shopping is a low-priority chore. These shoppers now total 20% of U.S. households and are expected to grow to 22% by the end of the century.

--Kitchen Birds: Generally very old consumers, kitchen birds include many widowed women and people living alone. These consumers shop and cook very little and tend to eat lightly. Now accounting for 6% of U.S. households, this group is expected to grow marginally--to 7%--by the end of the next decade.

--Constrained Shoppers: Lacking in money and transportation, constrained shoppers are limited in their selection of groceries and supermarkets. “They typically walk to and from the supermarket, and they buy very little non-food merchandise there,” according to the study.

Given their tight budgets and spending power far below their absolute numbers, these shoppers probably will continue to be overlooked by most supermarkets. Generally located in urban areas, they make up about 18% of all U.S. households and are expected to total about 20% by 2000.

With reluctant shoppers (the hurried and unfettered, kitchen strangers and birds) rising in number and spending power, supermarkets realize that convenience is critical. So it’s no wonder that many chains are trying to turn their stores into the ultimate one-stop shopping center, seeking to provide more than just food, drugs, videotapes, photo processing and flowers.

In many stores around the country, full-service banks are being set up where shoppers not only can deposit money and cash checks, but also can buy certificates of deposits, obtain small loans and, in some cases, store valuables in safe deposit boxes.

Beyond banks, stores are setting up special service centers to take care of other daily business. Jewel-Osco of Florida, for example, has set up a center where shoppers can send express mail and use telephone facsimile machines.

Taken to the Cleaners

Meanwhile, the Midwestern Hy-Vee Food Stores Inc. has in-store shoe-repair shops and also takes in laundry--which is then sent to a local cleaner.

“It is big business and growing,” says Ron Pearson, Hy-Vee President. Additionally, about a dozen of its 150 supermarkets will house small travel agencies by the end of the year. “We’re also looking at insurance,” Pearson says.

Supermarkets also are exploring ways to get shoppers in and out more easily. Kroger Co., for example, has set up separate cash registers at both its salad bars and deli stands so takeout customers need stand in only one line at the store and not join the so-called express lines.

In California, Vons Grocery Co. has gone further, setting up a convenience store--with its own check-out system--inside a regular grocery store. The Vons Express Store stocks the same items found in 7-Eleven-type stores but sells them at the regular supermarket price, which is typically about 20% below convenience-store prices.

In addition to convenience, supermarkets also are paying greater attention to nutrition. One Washington state chain, Mega Food, for example, is creating a nutrition club, called Future Perfect, whose centerpiece is prepared meals low in cholesterol and salt.

To enter the 18-month program that will begin this fall, consumers pay a $300 initiation fee for a complete body work-up that includes an analysis of body fat and metabolic rate. Then a dietary program is designed for each individual, outlining daily food requirements and weekly exercise programs.

To meet the dietary goals, consumers can buy prepared meals that were designed by a dietitian at the store--either daily or twice a week. The meals, also available to non-club members, include chicken piccata with fettuccine and broccoli, barbecue kebabs with rice and beef, tomato and basil salad with a whole-wheat roll. Prices for lunch range from $2.50 to $2.90; dinner, from $5 to $6.

Stores Scrambling

Many other nontraditional supermarket programs are likely to be introduced in the years ahead as stores scramble to keep as customers the time-pressed, unenthusiastic cooks.

For example, the Booz-Allen study predicts that stores may set up a specialty pet shop with “all-natural pet food, gourmet pet food, frozen, imported pet food in a freezer case. Not just leashes and flea collars, but puppy sweaters, scratching posts, goldfish tanks. The widest collection of puppy toys. A knowledgeable nutritionist on Monday afternoons.”

The shop is a natural, Booz-Allen vice presidents Susan Engel and Barbara Cohen conclude, because three out of four families with children and two out of three working women have pets--in other words, some of the very reluctant shoppers supermarkets want to keep attracting.

Pearson, who is studying the pet-shop concept, believes even more unusual services are in the offing, such as window washing, plumbing and maid service.

“Survey after survey shows that supermarkets are some of the most trusted people in the community,” says Pearson. “Therefore, if you are a good businessman in the community and have built up trust, you should be able to provide other services, like home repair and window washing. Just book through me and I will guarantee an honest, competent person. I see that coming.”

Cohen also predicts that baby-sitting may come in the not-too-distant future. Given the labor shortage, supermarkets may be forced to offer day care just to find and keep employees. “Once they provide it for employees, it’s only a logical extension to offer it to customers as well.”

Whether it is baby-sitting, home repair or nutrition clubs, it is certain that the landscape of each and every supermarket will be changing dramatically in the years ahead.

As Pearson says, “it’s a revolving business, and the formats are constantly changing. Maybe not every one of these ideas will be on target, but some certainly will be.”