COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - May 28, 2008) - With food costs on the rise, shoppers are
feeling the pinch and looking for ways to stretch their grocery budgets.
Wal-Mart maintains a strong lead in the Groceries category among all adults
nationwide (16% say they shop there most often) and is increasing
competition for regional players, according to the May Retail Ratings
Report from BIGresearch (
http://www.bigresearch.com).
While shoppers in the Northeast head to Shoprite most often to stock their
pantries, the grocer only saw a marginal increase in consumer share year
over year (9.5% in May 07 to 10.1% in May 08), giving them a positive
Consumer Equity Index™ (CEI)* of 106.29. #2 Stop 'n Shop's growth
remained flat with a CEI of 99.09 while #3 Wal-Mart saw a substantial
increase in share with an index of 126.40. *CEI measures growth in share
year over year. An index of 100 is flat, while an index of 105 indicates 5%
growth.
Safeway tops the list for grocer shopped most often in the West; however,
growth in consumer share remains flat with a CEI of 100.98. More shoppers
are heading to second place
Wal-Mart, evidenced in their positive CEI reading of 122.55.
Wal-Mart maintains a commanding lead in the South as a quarter of all
adults indicate they prefer to shop the big discounter for groceries.
Wal-Mart also leads in the Midwest; 14.9% of shoppers who live there say
the same.
"Across the country people are cutting costs, and Wal-Mart's competitive
pricing model is attractive to shoppers," said Pam Goodfellow, senior
analyst of BIGresearch. "However, it's interesting to see where consumers
are going in areas of the country with lower concentrations of Wal-Mart
Supercenters."
It appears that consumers are consolidating shopping trips, possibly due to
high gas prices, as Wal-Mart is gaining consumer share in the Prescription
Drugs category as well. 9.6% say they shop there most often for
prescriptions (v. 8.1% in May 07), giving #3 Wal-Mart a CEI of 118.37. This
is a relatively higher rating than the leaders in the category: #1
Walgreens (103.09) and #2 CVS (102.08).
CVS and Wal-Mart are battling it out for the number 2 position among
consumers with household incomes less than $50,000, and Wal-Mart seems to
be in place to overtake the druggist.
Prescription Drugs (Shop at Most Often) - HH Income Less Than $50K
Share Share Share
Store May. 2007 May. 2008 +/- CEI
Wal-Mart 11.2% 13.1% 1.9 117.07
CVS 12.2% 13.2% 1.1 108.71
Walgreens 16.6% 17.3% 0.7 104.06
Source: BIGresearch, Retail Ratings Report, May 08
BIGresearch's Retail Ratings Reports (RRR) are available monthly for 12
major merchandise categories. They are developed from BIGresearch's monthly
Consumer Intentions & Actions (CIA) Survey of over 7,500 online interviews.
For a sample of the May report for Groceries (all consumers and by census
region), please click the following link:
http://info.bigresearch.com/.
About BIGresearch
BIGresearch is a consumer intelligence firm providing solution-based
insights of consumer behavior, present and future, in areas of products and
services, retail, financial services, automotive and media. BIGresearch
conducts the monthly Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (CIA) of 7,500+
respondents and the semi-annual Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM) of 15,000+
respondents. More information is available at
http://www.bigresearch.com.
Contact Information: Contact:
Chrissy Wissinger
BIGresearch
450 West Wilson Bridge Road
Suite 370
Worthington, Ohio 43085
(614) 846-0146