What grocery list? Singaporeans rank second most impulsive shoppers in Southeast Asia

But survey shows Singaporean shoppers are also the second most price-sensitive.

According to Nielsen’s latest annual Shopper Trends report, 62% of Singaporean shoppers claim they know the prices of most grocery items and notice when price changes, making them the second most price-sensitive shoppers in Southeast Asia after Malaysia (68%).

Also, 63% of Singaporeans indicate they are promotion-seekers when it comes to shopping for food, groceries and personal care items. They will change stores due to promotions (12%), search for promotions (45%) or buy different brands on promotions (6%).

Jorge Rodriguez, Head of Retailer Services, Nielsen Singapore, said, “The current inflationary environment has made shoppers even more conscious of the prices of food items. They will seek out alternative outlets for better deals. Increasingly, programs that reward repeat purchases or reward-based redemption programs are likely to become ‘bread-and-butter’ strategies for retailers going forward. Retailers will have to find ways to differentiate with each other by listing exclusive brands, new product range and creating loyalty programs to reward purchases.”

Meanwhile the Shopper Trends report reveals as well that the majority of Singaporean shoppers (77%) do plan their grocery shopping trips; however, 40% say they always buy additional items that were ‘unplanned’ for. Almost one in four shoppers (23%) admit that they usually do not plan what they will buy, ranking Singaporean shoppers as the second most impulsive group of shoppers in Southeast Asia, after the Philippines (35%).

Nielsen Shopper Trends is an annual study about consumers’ shopping behavior conducted in Singapore. 1,300 respondents were selected through random household selection with the criteria of males and females aged 15-65 years old were selected through random household selection with quotas for all races, males/females, age, household income, and gender, both main grocery buyers and key influencers. The survey was done from October to December 2010 using face-to-face interviews.