IRI’s holiday report finds frugality among grocery shoppers

CHICAGO — IRI is has released the results of its holiday 2015 survey and the results might not be what retailers want to hear. Although the company projects about $13 billion in holiday spending about 32% of consumers surveyed are planning to scale back their spending on holiday celebrations this year, and the ever-elusive millennials are also looking to stretch their dollars. 

 

IRI’s Shopper Sentiment Index looks at how the economy impacts grocery shopping behavior using a 100-point benchmark, with a score above 100 indicating less frugality and more loyalty to brands. The average index dropped a few points since last quarter — from 123 to 119 — with shoppers aged 35 to 54 showing the highest index (123) and millenials indexing a 103. 

 

Compared to older consumers, 51% of millennials said they’ve made financial cutbacks in the last six months, compared to 37% of shoppers 55 and older. But the millennial demographic is also more hopeful than the others, with 57% of them saying they expect their financial health to be better next year, compared to 37% of those aged 35 to 54 and 21% of those aged 55 and older. 

 

“It’s fantastic to see millennials so optimistic about the future, since they struggled the most throughout the economic downturn,” IRI’s thought leadership VP Susan Viamari said. “If these optimistic expectations come to fruition, it will go a long way in encouraging younger consumers to open their wallets more. They will be able to spend more on what they want, not just what they need. And millennials will finally feel more comfortable about making those impulse buys and even splurging now and again.”

 

Finally, when it comes to hitting the aisles, many consumers are looking to show up with a plan — 62% said they’d prepare a list before shopping, 54% said they would cut coupons and 34% will rely on private label options.