A majority of grocery shoppers who have adopted online shopping (64%) are highly focused on buying products for diets or other health-related programs, either for themselves or for other household members, according to a newly released study from Label Insight, the product transparency market leader, and FMI – The Food Industry Association.
For their “Transparency Trends: Omnichannel Grocery Shopping from the Consumer Perspective” report, Label Insight and FMI surveyed 1,000 U.S., omnichannel grocery shoppers who shopped in-store and online for groceries in the month prior to better understand their grocery shopping habits. The report found most omnichannel grocery shoppers (90%) always or sometimes search a product’s label or description online to make sure foods meet the goals of their diet, with many focusing their purchases on more than two health-related programs.
The findings also reveal that when buying groceries online, more than one-half (53%) of shoppers say it is either challenging or extremely challenging to make sure a product meets the goals of their diet or wellness program. In fact, only 18% of shoppers say they never run into challenges, indicating a substantial missed opportunity for CPG brands and grocery retailers to meet their customers’ needs with better product information and more accurate search results, respectively.
“Given how the grocery landscape has evolved due to COVID-19, customer expectations have reached new heights, especially when it comes to their focus on health and wellness,” said Tim Whiting, vice president, marketing at Label Insight. “It’s crucial for grocers and CPG brands to leverage the right technology to provide detailed product information that’s most relevant to omnichannel grocery shoppers based on their diet and health goals.”
Other key findings from the report include:
- Omnichannel grocery shoppers are health-driven: Sixty-seven percent of online shoppers place a high level of importance on the health benefits of products.
- Providing in-depth nutritional information is a must-have: Online shoppers prioritize dietary claims such as fat-free, sugar-free, high fiber, etc. (58%) and dietary or health-related programs such as Keto, Paleo, and others (45%).
- Consumers crave healthy, diet-specific options: Seventy-three percent of online shoppers say general nutrition facts such as calories, sugar, fat, and protein are important considerations. What’s more, the most commonly selected choices were low or no sugar (25%), high protein (21%), and low carb (20%).
