Survey finds consumers’ financial outlook off to slow start in 2018
To ease their struggles, shoppers are embracing a wide range of strategies, including comparison shopping, brand switching and price shopping.
The latest IRI Consumer Connect survey, released by IRI, Chicago, finds that consumers’ financial outlook has remained virtually unchanged during the past year. This conservative mindset has contributed to the CPG industry getting off to a slow start in 2018, but predictions for the remainder of the year are favorable.
“The Tax Cut and Jobs Act was passed at the end of 2017, and the expectation was that extra income from lower withholdings would spur spending,” says Susan Viamari, vice president of thought leadership. “Only 19% of consumers we surveyed said they expect to spend more as a result of the tax cut, so the CPG industry should not expect to be seeing a major boost. During the first quarter, the CPG industry saw low-level growth, with price increases driving dollar sales growth and edibles faring slightly better than the industry as a whole. The good news is that economic expectations for the remainder of the year are positive. We found that consumers want food and beverage solutions that will help them advance their nutritional goals, and they are willing to pay for the extra benefits. CPG marketers can really drive growth of premium products if they truly understand what is most important to consumers.”
Consumers remain shaky about financial health
Results from the Q1 2018 IRI Consumer Connect survey reveal that there has been essentially no change in consumers’ financial outlook during the past year. For instance, 44% of consumers said their household finances are strained in Q1 2018, compared to 45% in Q1 2017. And, 29% of consumers are having difficulty affording needed groceries in Q1 2018, compared to the exact same number in Q1 2017. Finally, 47% are making sacrifices to make ends meet in Q1 2018, compared to 50% in Q1 2017.
To ease their struggles, shoppers are embracing a wide range of strategies, including comparison shopping, brand switching and price shopping. Among the most prevalent strategies (total, Millennials, Generation X, baby boomers, seniors):