Price is still the most important factor for consumers when choosing their usual place of purchase, but the variety of the assortment and the advantages of the loyalty card are the reasons that have grown the most in the last year.
This is one of the main conclusions of the report "Attitudes of the shopper to distribution" prepared by the leading consultancy in consumer panels Kantar Worldpanel on the perception of the image of distribution chains in Spain.
Thus, the quality / price ratio is a reason for the choice of establishment for 74% of households (January to September 2014). The second most relevant reason, proximity - it is for 66% of households - is also stabilizing now that consumers are re-spacing their purchases. Households go five times less a year to buy consumer goods, so travel is less and less a critical element when choosing a place to buy.
As an alternative to the price, the reasons that acquire more relevance for the consumer are the breadth of brands and products and the advantages of the loyalty card, which already move 45% and 33% of households respectively (compared to 43% and 31% in 2013). The fact that the products are available is so important for the consumer that finding out-of-stock brands in the store would make 44% of households stop buying in it, being the reason for rejection of the establishment that has grown the most in the last nine months.
The study, which analyzes the perceived image of the main distribution chains in our country, indicates Mercadona, Lidl and Dia as the best valued for their quality / price ratio. Among them, the German discounter is the one who is improving the most in all the attributes related to the price.
With regard to the decision factors that are growing the most, such as variety and assortment, the best-perceived chains, and the only ones that improve that image, are the hyper and super formats: Carrefour, Alcampo and Eroski. On the other hand, the most valued loyalty cards are those of Carrefour and Dia.
