Lumina Intelligence’s first CTP Quarterly Download of the year has found that the frequency of trips and basket size increased immediately after the festive period, driven by an increase in soft drinks - especially in the month of March.
Shoppers also visited their stores on more occasions in this period, although they spent less – especially when part of the younger demographic. In addition, planned top-up missions increased in share (4.2%), with tinned and packaged foods key within this.
The likes of cooking, pasta and curry sauces as well as dry pasta and rice fared especially well, with shoppers trying to manage their expenses after the festivities.
However, such budgeting struck impulse shopping hard. Symbols and independent stores both saw drop offs, with shoppers who live with partners and children the key drivers (down 2.3%). They were identified as the most budget-conscious shoppers and the most likely to plan their shopping trips to better manage expenses.
The weather also played a part - the warmest March on record since 1910 meant food and drink to go sales were both on the rise, with soft drinks and chilled foods the key drivers of this.
In other aspects of the report, purchases made on promotion fell across most channels, although forecourts continued to over-index. This fall was attributed to a decline in the number of promotions in chilled foods but also crisps in general.
The flipside of this was an increase in the power of pricemarked packs (PMPs), and in managed convenience stores especially. Chilled foods particularly saw a PMP purchase upsurge, by some 2.5%.
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