For 10 years WOM Network has observed and mapped changes in the Australian grocery shopping landscape, and since 2012, has seen the establishment of some long-term trends, some predictable and some not.
“It’s certainly safe to say that over the last few years we’ve seen a dramatic shake-up of grocery and pharmacy shopping habits” with Covid-19 amplifying some long-term trends and reversed others,” says WOM Network Director Warwick Hills.
A new normal in grocery?
There has been a lot of talk of ‘the new normal’; a new set of patterns and habits across all walks of life. So, what about grocery shopping?
“In May 2021, after a year of dramatic change, Australian grocery shoppers were predicting even more changes in shopping habits for 2022,” Mr Hills said. “Among others they were predicting less frequent and larger supermarket shops, a continued shift to online shopping, and a greater focus on family health and wellbeing – cooking nutritious meals for the family at home.”
What has changed in 2022?
In the 2022 edition of ‘Shopper Diary Project,’ WOM Network presents the state of play on the pandemic’s long-term impact on shopping trends from the main grocery buyer’s perspective. The findings include:
- Why, despite Covid-19 reducing our weekly trips to the supermarket from three to two, we are now spending more time grocery shopping than we have since 2017.
- The impact Covid-19 and other factors have had on grocery shopping routines, and why it is harder than ever to predict when MGBs are shopping.
- Tracking the unprecedented level of online shopping adoption (16% growth in 2022 alone) and the impact Covid-19 has had on its rate of change.
The report also covers where MGBs are spending their money and what media sources have the greatest influence on grocery choice – with in-store display, product packaging and online review/recommendation sites like Mouths of Mums having greater influence than traditional media and paid social, according to WOM Network.