U.S. Grocery Shoppers go Digital to Save Dollars

U.S. consumers are taking to their digital devices when shopping for groceries to find the best deals, according to a new study from Nielsen, the New York-based provider of information and consumer insights.

The most popular weekly U.S. activities related to grocery shopping on a connected device - PC, mobile, tablet, etc. - included reading online grocery circulars (62 percent), looking for coupons online (55 percent) and browsing a manufacturer’s website for a grocery category (55 percent).

The "Nielsen Global Survey of Digital’s Influence on Grocery Shopping," which surveyed more than 28,000 online respondents in 56 countries, found popular monthly activities to be looking for deals and coupons (43 percent each), followed by price checking/consumer reviews (37 percent). The highest ranked daily activities were using digital shopping lists (39 percent) and looking for deals online (31 percent).

"Connected consumers and their devices are providing consumer packaged goods makers and retailers with options to differentiate their brands and stay relevant," said Todd Hale, SVP, consumer and shopper insights, Nielsen. "Those who can keep up with what matters most to digital shoppers will be well positioned for the short and long term."

When asked which factors influenced their grocery purchase decisions compared to a year ago, U.S. respondents identified rising food prices (49 percent), health factors such as heart/cholesterol/weight (28 percent) and increased transportation costs (28 percent) as having a “major impact” on their decisions. Food labeling (25 percent) and retailer loyalty programs (24 percent) rounded out the top five U.S. “major impact” categories.

Among CPG categories, food and beverage scored highest (16 percent), followed by pet products (15 percent), skincare/cosmetics (14 percent) and household cleaning supplies (10 percent).