Store Brands Benefit from Consumer Belt-tightening: Survey

A recent poll from GfK Custom Research North America found that consumers are buying more store-brand products as they watch their spending habits more closely.

The poll, conducted for the New York-based Private Label Manufacturers Association, found that three out of 10 consumers are "buying more store-brand products" than a year ago. On top of this, 77 percent of the respondents agreed that the private label brand was "as good as, if not better than, national brand products."

The report noted that one in three respondents felt that the current recession plays a "very important" factor in their purchasing decisions.

One of the more surprising findings is where consumers shop. In 2006, a PLMA MORI study found that 70 percent of shoppers preferred the supermarket as their main shopping destination. According to the GfK survey, 59 percent of shoppers now shop somewhere other than at a traditional supermarket. Sixty-seven percent go to two or more stores, citing lower costs and product variety as the reasons.

The most obvious conclusion, supported by the faltering restaurant industry, is that 59 percent of those polled are "eating out less often," and that 49 percent will be preparing and eating more meals at home in the coming year.
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