Some of the biggest names in retail, including several supermarket CEOs, spoke at today (7 October)'s IGD Convention in Westminster.
Among their presentations to the 600 or so delegates at the food and consumer goods research organisation's prestigious annual eventwere myriad stats and the results of recent consumer surveys.
FPJ has rounded up some of the most insightful and relevant on offer:
Joanne Denney-Finch, IGD chief executive
- The average shopper now makes 24 grocery trips a month through four different channels.
- 54 per cent of shoppers now visit a food discount store in any month, and nearly as many go to a pound shop.
- In March 2013, only six per cent of respondents to an IGD ShopperVista survey said a discounter is their 'main store'. By August 2014, that stat was up to 15 per cent.
- Four per cent is the current forecasted UK foodservice sales growth figure; one that would see the sector returning to 2006, pre-recession levels.
- Half of consumers surveyed say it's more convenient to shop around than to buy everything under one roof in spite of the extra travelling and checkout time.
- Only 18 per cent of consumerssay they browse most promotions in-store, compared with 25 per cent two years ago.
- The IGD expects to see convenience, discount and online retailing grow together by more than £31bn over the next five years, thereby claiming 43 per cent of the market in the process.
- The idea that every promotion should offer at least a 25 per cent saving is supported by 37 per cent of people. That's up by six points over two years.
- 55 per cent of consumers surveyed by the IGD, meanwhile, said that they like price cuts rather than multi-buys - a sea-change from 17 per cent seven years ago.
- If today's trends continue, superstores and supermarkets together will account for slightly more than half of grocery sales in five years' time - down from 63 per cent today.
Charles Wilson, Booker Group CEO
- Booker currently has 15 of its recently-introduced Family Shopper discount stores, which differ from Aldi and Lidl - the two of whom 'rely on 20,000+ cachment areas' - because 'they are making a success out of areas of just 3,000 or so people'. In three to four years' time, Wilson told delegates, the chain should consist of between 300 and 400 stores.
Richard Pennycook, The Co-operative Group CEO
- The professional fees for managing The Co-op's banking and leadership crisis earlier this year amounted to £125m.
Andy Clarke, Asda CEO
- 'One of the challenges for us is that strategy is only 10 per cent. Executing it is 90 per cent. Strategy is on paper; executing it is everything.'
