Death of the large supermarket trolley
LARGE shopping trolleys could soon be a thing of the past as a change in our eating habits has killed off the ‘big shop’.
People no longer plan ahead for their meals for the week and instead many visit shops at least once a day to see what takes their fancy. Shoppers are also increasingly racing to the reduced prices aisle as pursuing bargains no longer carries a stigma.
The changing trends have been picked up in the annual Waitrose Food and Drink Report. Families used to trek up and down supermarket aisles on the weekend with a large trolley, a list and a clear plan for what would be on the menu in the coming week.
However, in an era when both parents are likely to be working, many resent losing a chunk of their weekend to the chore of supermarket shopping. Waitrose said: ‘Recent years have seen a seismic shift in food shopping habits.
‘With fewer of us doing a weekly “big shop” could this mean the supersize trolleys’ days are numbered? If recent trends continue then it looks likely. Just a few years ago, an average Waitrose would open with around 200 big trolleys and 150 shallow “daily shopper” trolleys lined up outside. These days the tables have turned, with 250 shallow daily shoppers and just 70 big trolleys.’ Waitrose found two in three Britons regularly or occasionally visit a supermarket more than once a day. This group said they like this method of shopping because it stops them overbuying, which reduces food waste, and because they don’t like to be tied to what they have in the fridge.
Some 53 per cent said they buy more cutprice products than they did five years ago. Nine in ten of those who did said they wanted to save money, one in three said it was because they hate seeing food go to waste and one in four said there was no longer any stigma around buying reduced price food.
Waitrose managing director Rob Collins said: ‘People have become more flexible in their shopping patterns, more price-savvy and more single-minded than ever before.
‘Over half of us don’t decide what we’re having for dinner until lunchtime; and one in ten of us will decide just before we eat.’