Home-brand products have a way to go with grocery buyers

Although nearly half (47%) of Australia’s 14 million main grocery buyers say they’ll go out of their way for a bargain, 70% stick to their favourite brands for most things they buy and just 38% buy more stores’ products than well-known brands, the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research show. But customers of one particular supermarket buck this trend dramatically…

That supermarket is ALDI, and no less than 63% of grocery-buyers who usually shop there say they buy more stores products than well-known brands. ALDI customers are also far less likely than grocery-buyers who usually shop at Coles, Woolworths/ Safeway and Foodland to agree with the statements, “I trust well-known brands better than the stores’ own” and “I have favourite brands for most things I buy and I tend to stick to them”.

In light of this, it is no surprise that a noticeably greater proportion (60%) of ALDI shoppers are willing to go out of their way for a bargain than Coles (46%), Woolworths/Safeway (47%) and Foodland (40%) customers.

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), January– December 2014 (n=12,629). Base: main grocery buyers 14+. NB: Total Coles = Coles, Coles Express and Coles Online; Total Woolworths/Safeway includes Online and +Plus Petrol.

Angela Smith, Group Account Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“Over the last five years, the proportion of grocery buyers who say they buy more stores’-own products than well-known brands has remained static. Australians are not becoming more open to them: on the contrary, trust of well-known brands over stores’-own has grown slightly since 2010, as has the proportion of grocery buyers who tend to stick with their favourite brands for most things they buy.

“Grocery buyers who usually shop at ALDI are a striking exception, being keen bargain-hunters and prolific consumers of stores’-own products. A product’s brand or label is less likely to be a conscious factor in their purchasing decisions.

“Amid news that Woolworths/Safeway is planning to improve its stores’-own offering, our findings indicate that they have their work cut out for them: grocery-buyers who usually shop there are less likely than ALDI and Coles customers to buy primarily stores’-own products. On the other hand, they are considerably less brand-fixated than shoppers who usually get their groceries from current Customer Satisfaction Supermarket of the Month, Foodland…”

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