savings Archives - Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer

Half of shoppers ‘buy what they don’t need’ to chase supermarket discounts

Linda Stewart — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 08:50:45 +0000

Half of Irish shoppers are overspending, shopping more frequently or buying what they don’t need in order to pick up supermarket money-off vouchers.

According to a new study by Coyne Research, commissioned on behalf of Aldi Ireland, consumers spent on average €9 extra, with three in ten claiming their additional spend was over €10.

This suggests that shoppers could be spending up to €477 more a year on groceries than they need to, if they overspend every time they shop.

46% of shoppers surveyed said discount offers such as “buy one get one free” and “three for two” had led them to spend more than they planned, while 43% said it led them to buy things they don’t really need or want.

Meanwhile, 42% admitted such offers don’t help them save money.

The research also shows that 30% of consumers believe supermarket loyalty schemes and money-off vouchers lead them to waste food.

“Our research tells a story that Irish shoppers are beginning to question whether money-off vouchers really benefit them or provide them with real savings,” said Bernie Coyne, Managing Director of Coyne Research.

Aldi Ireland say they do not operate a loyalty scheme or money-off vouchers, and are instead focused on offering the lowest prices possible.

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Musgrave warns of ‘perfect storm’ brewing for consumers

Linda Stewart — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 09:34:15 +0000

Grocery group Musgrave says consumers could soon face a “perfect storm” of surging energy bills and accelerating inflation driving up living costs as they run out of savings built up when they stayed at home during the pandemic.

The wholesale grocery distributor and owner of two of the biggest grocery chains, SuperValu and Centra, has started to see customers shop around for value and swap branded goods for cheaper own-brand versions in the last six to eight weeks, Noel Keeley said.

“If we look to September, in my view, the perfect storm conditions are coming for the consumer,” Mr Keeley told Reuters.

“You could have a situation where Covid savings are gone, summer holidays are over and they may have a bill to pay for that. Energy bills then start to come in and they’re much more significant than they used to be, kids are going back to school and you could have an interest rates increase as well.”

Tesco Chief Executive Ken Murphy told the Consumer Goods Forum’s Global Summit that it was seeing signs in its Irish stores of the same stress its main British business is experiencing. Irish inflation accelerated to a near 40-year high of 7.8% in May, with food inflation up 4.5% year-on-year.

Musgrave is “looking at every cost in the business” to absorb as much as possible, Mr Keeley said, and this includes cutting the number of deliveries to stores and trimming some product ranges where it makes sense.

It is also making sure suppliers “take a share of the pain” when it comes to price negotiations.

Mr Keeley believes the premium end of the grocery market will hold up during the period of high inflation while Musgrave’s market leading Frank and Honest coffee brand also continues to grow with no let up in people buying coffee on the go.

However he warned that that consumer confidence is fragile.

“When there’s a lot of talk about recession and challenges in the economy, all consumers tend to pull back, even the ones that perhaps have more disposable income than others,” Keeley said.

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Retailer plans to open a further 18 stores in 2022

Linda Stewart — Mon, 16 May 2022 08:55:57 +0000

Managing director Ian Allan said the retailer’s sales for this year were running “significantly ahead” of a wider 5-7 per cent contraction expected across the industry, but shoppers in its stores are “moving into more value offerings”, particular the company’s almost 1,000 lines of own-brand products.

While Kantar is reporting that price inflation across the sector is running at 4.5 per cent, Mr Allen said that at Centra it is about 3.5 per cent.

“We’re working with suppliers to continue to drive down those pressures with our offering,” said Mr Allen.

“The pressures on food and price on food is coming from energy cost increases and commodity prices, which can be directly linked to what’s happening in Ukraine, and labour issues.”

There are currently 483 Centra stores operating in Ireland, more than 90 per cent of which are independently owned. The company said there are plans to open a further 18 stores in 2022, involving an investment of €25 million and the creation of 430 jobs.

“The expansion programme is in addition to the 11 new Centra stores opened in 2021, and the €17 million deployed last year to revamp and refresh 64 existing stores,” the company said. “Centra supports over 38,000 jobs and directly employs 11,716 people.”

Irish consumer sentiment fell to an 18-month low in April as concerns about living costs intensified, KBC Bank Ireland said late last month, as households worried about their future spending plans and the worsening economic outlook generally.

The lender’s sentiment survey fell from 67 in March to 57.7 in April – well below its long-term average of 86.6.

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