Filipinos are more worried over the rising prices of groceries than experiencing another pandemic.
That is the opinion of 7 in 10 of respondents in a survey conducted in February to March on over 2,000 subjects for the Kantar Shopperscore 2023 report.
A smaller proportion of 50 percent were concerned over experiencing another pandemic while 44 percent cited the rising cost of fuel as a worry.
In her presentation, Laurice Obana, consumer and shopper insight director at the Worldpanel Division of Kantar in the Philippines, said the study revealed trends in shopping behavior of Filipinos to cope with inflation.
To absorb rising costs, some are cutting back by either buying in smaller packs or quantities or are shifting to cheaper alternatives and/or generic brands.
The study divided the shoppers into struggling or those who are in the red (22 percent); managing who somehow cope to make both ends meet (71 percent) and; comfortable or those who are the least constrained when it comes to their budgets and are able to set aside extra money for savings, (7 percent).
While these three have shown stark contrasts in their buying patterns and choices of channels, all of them look not just for value for money but prices as well.
All three shopper groups patronize hypermarkets and supermarkets, groceries and sari-sari stores, and even convenience stores, drug stores and direct sales — albeit at different levels of frequency and loyalty.
With majority of Filipinos belong to the managing pressure group, Obana said this group exercises a lot of discipline when buying.
“They buy what is needed and are less prone to impulse purchases. They stick to their budgets
Yet, the survey found
Filipinos remain hopeful, with only 8 percent saying their situation will worsen in the next 12 months with 48 percent saying it will be the same and 44 percent
“It is important to note that each shopper group has their own considerations and priorities when going out to buy FMCG for their households.
“Shoppers go to hypermarkets and supermarkets in a purposive and deliberate manner. It is highly planned, going straight to theaisles to look for where items on their list are found. “Shopperscope 2023 indicates that shopping in supermarkets is planned and deliberate for Filipinos,” Obana said.
Sari-sari stores continue to be the FMCG channel of choice for Filipinos, totaling 212 trips in 2023, up 5 percent from the year before. Almost all households, at 99.7 percent, shop in their neighborhood sari-sari stores, which are usually five to 10 minutes away from their homes.
