With their laser-like focus on healthy eating, sophisticated tastes, and ample financial resources, the 42 million food shoppers with a household income of $150,000 or more exercise an outsize influence on the food industry. The sheer volume of spending on food at home by affluent households - which is in excess of $100 billion - makes them an essential consumer segment for food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, and grocers.
Affluent food shoppers are perfectly in sync with the future of grocery retail. Since they are twice as likely as their less affluent counterparts to use online grocery delivery services or to have ordered groceries/food products online, they are vitally important to the fast-growing online component of the grocery industry.
The food culture and buying habits of affluent food shoppers also cause them to have a disproportionate impact on the bottom line of brick-and-mortar supermarkets and grocery stores. Affluent food shoppers are more prone than other food shoppers to shy away from conventional shelf-stable packaged foods and are more likely to spend their money and time on buying and experiencing higher-margin store perimeter products and services.
For example, affluent food shoppers have a much higher likelihood of buying fresh department products such as organic produce and value-added products such as hot rotisserie chicken or further prepared fresh seafood. As a result, affluent food shoppers provide a disproportionate boost to grocery store profits today and will be even more important in the future as grocers continue to shrink the centre store and invest in an expanded and more attractive perimeter.
This report offers an in-depth look into the values driving affluent food shoppers and highlights the differences between the in-store choices of affluent and other food shoppers. The report also provides marketers and retailers with critical insights into the steps they can take to make their products and store environments more appealing to this indispensable consumer segment.
Scope of the Report
The report focuses on food shopping and buying patterns of affluent food shoppers, who are defined as those with a household income of $150,000 or more. Affluent food shoppers are further segmented into mass affluent food shoppers, with a household income of $150,000-$249,999, and highly affluent food shoppers, with an income of $250,000 or more. The report includes an overview of topline opportunities in the affluent food shopper segment, an in-depth assessment of the food purchasing patterns of affluent food shoppers, profiles of their demographic characteristics and attitudes toward food, and an analysis of the channel choices, in-store behaviour, and brand preferences of affluent food shoppers.
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Methodology
Consumer data in this report come from two primary sources. The first source is the author's National Online Consumer Survey conducted in April 2019. This survey reflects a panel of 2,000 U.S. adults (age 18+) that is balanced to the national population on the primary demographic measures of gender, age bracket, race/ethnicity, geographic region, marital status, presence or absence of children in the household and household income. When the report uses the author's National Online Consumer Survey data, food shoppers are defined as individuals who personally shop for groceries.
The other primary source of consumer data is the Simmons National Consumer Study (NCS) for Fall 2018, which was fielded between October 2017 and November 2018. On an ongoing basis, Simmons conducts booklet-based surveys of a large and random sample of consumers(approximately 25,000 for each 12-month survey compilation) who in aggregate represent a statistically accurate cross-section of the U.S. population. When the report uses Simmons NCS data, food shoppers are defined as those who shopped at any supermarket or food store in the past four weeks. Simmons NCS product and brand usage tables and figures are based on products and brands used most by individuals or households.
U.S. Government data sources include the U.S. Census Bureau and the Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS). When the report uses CE data, mass affluent households are defined as those with an income ranging from $150,000 to $199,999 and highly affluent households are those with a pre-tax income of $200,000 or more. The report is also based on data from a wide range of industry sources, including company websites and industry publications and blogs.
