>>The discounters could take off here if they turned brits on
>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
The feature on page 34 this week on consumer attitudes to the hard discounters makes for fascinating reading - if only because it confirms that our German cousins are hopelessly in love with such retailers, while we Brits still seem to be resisting their charms.
Pretty much every German shopper who responded to our exclusive survey, carried out for us by HI Europe, said they had been in a discounter. And pretty much all of them said they were likely to use one again.
If the Germans are on one extreme of the European grocery shopping spectrum, then the Brits are on the other. Surprisingly, two-thirds of shoppers in this country said they had been in a discounter. That was higher than I would have thought. But of those who had shopped in a discount store, 14% said they would not be repeating the experience and one-third clearly use them for ad hoc purchases (that’s people like my mum who is hooked on the German biscuits and chocolate marzipan that can only be bought in certain discounters).
As I say, we Brits have yet to be charmed. Not so the French, it seems. Discounters are a relatively new phenomenon over the Channel, but our research would suggest they are already starting to have an impact.
Delving deeper into the research provides some clues as to why we are proving so ambivalent. British shoppers recognise discounters offer good value, and we don’t think there’s anything wrong with these sorts of shops per se. But only 38% of Brits thought they offered a good choice of products (compared with 64% in Germany) and less than half agreed that they offered good quality (compared with 82% in Germany).
There are also structural issues: more than a third of those quizzed said they would be tempted to use a discount store if there was one located nearby. And a sizeable minority of Brits still don’t like the shopping environment offered by discount stores.
These, then, are the challenges facing the discounters, as they have been for a number of years.
Still, our research does at least offer some positive vibes for the discount chains - and supports those who (like me) argue that Britain is finally entering the age of the discounter. If that’s true, it’s been a long courtship. And as our research shows, there is still a lot more wooing of shoppers to be done.
the beginning of the affair?
>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
The feature on page 34 this week on consumer attitudes to the hard discounters makes for fascinating reading - if only because it confirms that our German cousins are hopelessly in love with such retailers, while we Brits still seem to be resisting their charms.
Pretty much every German shopper who responded to our exclusive survey, carried out for us by HI Europe, said they had been in a discounter. And pretty much all of them said they were likely to use one again.
If the Germans are on one extreme of the European grocery shopping spectrum, then the Brits are on the other. Surprisingly, two-thirds of shoppers in this country said they had been in a discounter. That was higher than I would have thought. But of those who had shopped in a discount store, 14% said they would not be repeating the experience and one-third clearly use them for ad hoc purchases (that’s people like my mum who is hooked on the German biscuits and chocolate marzipan that can only be bought in certain discounters).
As I say, we Brits have yet to be charmed. Not so the French, it seems. Discounters are a relatively new phenomenon over the Channel, but our research would suggest they are already starting to have an impact.
Delving deeper into the research provides some clues as to why we are proving so ambivalent. British shoppers recognise discounters offer good value, and we don’t think there’s anything wrong with these sorts of shops per se. But only 38% of Brits thought they offered a good choice of products (compared with 64% in Germany) and less than half agreed that they offered good quality (compared with 82% in Germany).
There are also structural issues: more than a third of those quizzed said they would be tempted to use a discount store if there was one located nearby. And a sizeable minority of Brits still don’t like the shopping environment offered by discount stores.
These, then, are the challenges facing the discounters, as they have been for a number of years.
Still, our research does at least offer some positive vibes for the discount chains - and supports those who (like me) argue that Britain is finally entering the age of the discounter. If that’s true, it’s been a long courtship. And as our research shows, there is still a lot more wooing of shoppers to be done.
the beginning of the affair?
No comments yet