Introduction

Verdict Research: With the onset of the recession, there has been a marked change in the way consumers use supermarkets and in which ones they favour. However, the one trend that remains is that supermarkets continue to build ever more diverse offers, presenting an increasing threat to specialist retailers in a growing number of different sectors.

Scope

*A wide-ranging analysis of the way customers shop in supermarkets with profiles of the UK's four largest grocers: Asda, Morrison, Sainsbury and Tesco.

*In each of the 8 categories profiled the report provides a socio-economic breakdown of shoppers, analysis of competitors used and sector penetrations.

*For each profiled retailer, this report provides a socio-economic breakdown of their customer base, cross sector shopping data and conversion rates.

Highlights

Tesco has performed strongly in food, but less so in non-food. In food it has grown its share of shoppers by 3.0 percentage points. However, non-food performance was weaker, with Tesco's sector share falling in almost every category. The grocer has suffered from its shoppers cutting back on discretionary purchases when performing their food shops

More men are shopping in supermarkets. In food the share of male shoppers has risen by 2.1 percentage points year-on-year to 43.4%, as males take on a greater share of household duties and the number of single men has grown. Consequently, men have loomed larger in the gender ratio in shopper shares of most non-food sectors

The percentage of clothing and footwear shoppers using supermarkets has risen. As price becomes more important to frugal consumers, supermarkets' value-led offers have become more appealing. Growth came from the oldest and youngest shoppers and DEs, with penetration of ABs actually falling. Asda has been the main beneficiary of this trend.

Reasons to Purchase

*Where Britain Shops is one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, drawing on a nationwide survey of 6,000 shoppers each year

*Verdict's thorough understanding of retail issues enables us to interpret data from an informed viewpoint and explore the implications for retailers

*With supermarkets strengthening their position in non-food categories, understanding customer motivations for using them has never been more important