Consumers in European, Asian countries, and the US are returning to belt-tightening measures that were prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s amid high inflation. In particular, as noted in a study conducted by IRI, consumers have begun to take food to work with them again, buy products with an expiring shelf life at discounted prices, consume fewer alcoholic beverages and increasingly search for good prices in stores. The study was conducted for 12 months through July 2022.
When thinking about buying a new product, buyers now primarily go by its cost (62%) and availability (49%). And perhaps its higher quality (15%) or innovativeness (8%) have become much less important for them.
The change in consumer behaviour has negatively affected retailers’ total sales, but at the same time has given a boost to sales of retailers’ own branded products, as they are usually sold at best. Thus, in Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands) sales in this segment have increased by 5.4% from the beginning of the year, and they account for 35.4% of total sales of fast-moving consumer goods.