Around half of consumers prefer shopping as though on holiday: little and often, locally, and focusing on fresh food for tonight‘s meal. According to a new report from Waitrose, online shoppers choose twice as many cleaning and store cupboard products as in-store customers, freeing themselves to buy fresh basket of food as they like. In London, 40% of the upmarket grocer‘s sales are after 5pm, as customers choose to buy dinner on their way home. The research also shows that three in 10 people now visit a supermarket three to four times a week – up from a quarter of Brits five years ago.
Reportedly, eight in 10 Brits no longer like to be told what’s healthy and what’s not and are choosing to research diets to suit their own lifestyle which is why there has been a boost in sales of nutrilbullets and spiralisers.
The research found that in a world where people can connect and consume instantly, the abundance in tech has actually led to almost two-thirds of the UK feeling overwhelmed. Most saliently it‘s those aged between 18 and 24, who one would naturally assume would be open to change, that feel this pressure the most. So how are they coping? The Waitrose research found that 65% of respondents say they form boundaries at home to introduce control in an age when we can have it all. Of those who do this, six in 10 families ban gadgets at the table and over half make sure they eat together as a family at certain times, either informally at home or dining out. Three in 10 families agree to turn devices off for a fixed period before they go to bed.
“Our research has uncovered a fascinating phenomenon, comments Mark Price, Waitrose MD. “In this ‘open all hours’ culture, two-thirds of us say we feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of choice available, and feel the need to reimpose boundaries when it comes to family life.”
