Driving growth in grocery store aisles

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Driving growth in grocery store aisles

3 Oct 2024

Lily Cota

Lily Cota is a writer, editor and photographer from Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in English and a minor in Photography. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading fantasy novels, thrifting, trying out local coffee shops and spending time with her nieces.

WASHINGTON, DC — As brands look to grow sales, meeting consumers where they are is key. During the NextGenBaker Leadership Forum, presented by the American Bakers Association (ABA) and held September 30-October 1 in Washington, DC, Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics, shared three distinct ways brands can grow their sales.

According to The Bakery Playbook 2024, a consumer research study series from ABA, conducted by Roerink, sales grow when more people buy, buy more often, or spend a little bit more.

To influence consumer purchasing habits, brands can strategically place their products outside of their traditional sections and utilize secondary displays.

“When we look at annual trips, there’s an average of 65 trips,” Roerink said. “That means, in just total groceries alone, people buy baked goods more than once a week. That sounds good until you look at total food and beverage and there are 217 trips per year. So, we still have an opportunity to convert better when people are in the store.”

“People are really balancing what they are purchasing, and that's what's driving some of the unit pressure for us.” — Anne-Marie Roerink | president | 210 Analytics

Roerink also shared that consumers are chasing deals and frequenting multiple stores, resulting in a rise in total trips for food and beverages. As the grocery bill goes up, consumers are focusing more on value.

“Savings are top of mind,” Roerink said. “We heard that directly coming from consumers. They’re talking about looking for sales promotions, and we see they’re checking promotions and looking to buy the store brand more often.”

While trip frequency is up, the trips themselves are a bit flat.

“We do see a little bit of an increase in dollars due to inflation, but we see fewer units in the basket,” Roerink shared. “People are really balancing what they are purchasing, and that’s what’s driving some of the unit pressure for us.”

When thinking about the levels of consumption — low, medium and high — the high-frequency consumer is what companies are looking for. High-frequency consumption relates to the amount of variety and different items people buy; the amount of meal applications for the items; and the different meal occasions, such as breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“Even within something like tortillas, you see that the high-frequency consumer who eats them almost every day, or at least every couple of days, has a much higher likelihood of buying all three sizes,” Roerink said.

When products can be utilized for multiple meals, occasions and applications, their purchasing value goes up, leading to more units in the basket.

By appealing to consumer habits and economic trends, brands can drive sustainable growth and meet demand in an ever-changing market.

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